Suppressing speckle noise for simultaneous differential extrasolar planet imaging (SDI) at the VLT and MMT

Beth A. Biller; Laird Close; Rainer Lenzen; Wolfgang Brandner; Donald W. McCarthy; Eric Nielsen; Markus Hartung

doi:10.1117/12.552164

25 October 2004 Suppressing speckle noise for simultaneous differential extrasolar planet imaging (SDI) at the VLT and MMT

Beth A. Biller, Laird Close, Rainer Lenzen, Wolfgang Brandner, Donald W. McCarthy, Eric Nielsen, Markus Hartung

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5490, Advancements in Adaptive Optics; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552164
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

We discuss data reduction techniques and results from the Simultaneous Differential Imager (SDI) implemented at the VLT (Lenzen et al. 2004a) and the MMT. SDI uses a quad filter to take images simultaneously at 3 wavelengths surrounding the 1.62 μm methane bandhead found in the spectrum of cool brown dwarfs and gas giants. By performing a difference of images in these filters, speckle noise from the primary can be attenuated by a factor of >10². Non-trivial data reduction tools are necessary to pipeline the simultaneous differential imaging. Here we discuss a custom algorithm implemented in IDL to perform this reduction. The script performs basic data reduction tasks but also precisely aligns images taken in each of the filters using a custom shift and subtract routine. In our commissioning runs at the VLT and MMT, we achieved contrasts up to a factor of 45000 (ΔH=11.7) at a separation of 0.6" from the primary star. With this degree of attenuation, we should be able to image a 2-4 Jupiter mass planet at 5 AU around a 30 Myr star at 10 pc. We believe that our SDI images are the highest contrast astronomical images ever made from ground or space.

Citation Download Citation

Beth A. Biller, Laird Close, Rainer Lenzen, Wolfgang Brandner, Donald W. McCarthy, Eric Nielsen, and Markus Hartung "Suppressing speckle noise for simultaneous differential extrasolar planet imaging (SDI) at the VLT and MMT", Proc. SPIE 5490, Advancements in Adaptive Optics, (25 October 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552164

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available