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High-order adaptive optics requirements for direct detection of extrasolar planets: Application to the SPHERE instrument

2006; Optica Publishing Group; Volume: 14; Issue: 17 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1364/oe.14.007515

1094-4087

Thierry Fusco, G. Rousset, Jean-François Sauvage, Cyril Petit, Jean-Luc Beuzit, Kjetil Dohlen, D. Mouillet, J. Charton, M. Nicolle, M. Kasper, Pierre Baudoz, P. Puget,

Astronomy and Astrophysical Research

The detection of extrasolar planets implies an extremely high-contrast, long-exposure imaging capability at near infrared and probably visible wavelengths. We present here the core of any Planet Finder instrument, that is, the extreme adaptive optics (XAO) subsystem. The level of AO correction directly impacts the exposure time required for planet detection. In addition, the capacity of the AO system to calibrate all the instrument static defects ultimately limits detectivity. Hence, the extreme AO system has to adjust for the perturbations induced by the atmospheric turbulence, as well as for the internal aberrations of the instrument itself. We propose a feasibility study for an extreme AO system in the frame of the SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetry High-contrast Exoplanet Research) instrument, which is currently under design and should equip one of the four VLT 8-m telescopes in 2010.