Performance of the Gemini Planet Imager's adaptive optics system.

The Gemini Planet Imager's adaptive optics (AO) subsystem was designed specifically to facilitate high-contrast imaging. A definitive description of the system's algorithms and technologies as built is given. 564 AO telemetry measurements from the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey campaign are analyzed.

Sub-nanometer flattening of 45 cm long, 45 actuator x-ray deformable mirror.

We have built a 45 cm long x-ray deformable mirror (XDM) of super-polished single-crystal silicon that has 45 actuators along the tangential axis. After assembly, the surface height error was 19 nm rms. With use of high-precision visible-light metrology and precise control algorithms, we have actuated the XDM and flattened its entire surface to 0.

First light of the Gemini Planet imager.

The Gemini Planet Imager is a dedicated facility for directly imaging and spectroscopically characterizing extrasolar planets. It combines a very high-order adaptive optics system, a diffraction-suppressing coronagraph, and an integral field spectrograph with low spectral resolution but high spatial resolution. Every aspect of the Gemini Planet Imager has been tuned for maximum sensitivity to faint planets near bright stars.

Computer vision applications for coronagraphic optical alignment and image processing.

Modern coronagraphic systems require very precise alignment between optical components and can benefit greatly from automated image processing. We discuss three techniques commonly employed in the fields of computer vision and image analysis as applied to the Gemini Planet Imager, a new facility instrument for the Gemini South Observatory. We describe how feature extraction and clustering methods can be used to aid in automated system alignment tasks, and also present a search algorithm for finding regular features in science images used for calibration and data processing.

Detection of carbon monoxide and water absorption lines in an exoplanet atmosphere.

Determining the atmospheric structure and chemical composition of an exoplanet remains a formidable goal. Fortunately, advancements in the study of exoplanets and their atmospheres have come in the form of direct imaging--spatially resolving the planet from its parent star--which enables high-resolution spectroscopy of self-luminous planets in jovian-like orbits. Here, we present a spectrum with numerous, well-resolved molecular lines from both water and carbon monoxide from a massive planet orbiting less than 40 astronomical units from the star HR 8799.

Images of a fourth planet orbiting HR 8799.

High-contrast near-infrared imaging of the nearby star HR 8799 has shown three giant planets. Such images were possible because of the wide orbits (>25 astronomical units, where 1 au is the Earth-Sun distance) and youth (<100 Myr) of the imaged planets, which are still hot and bright as they radiate away gravitational energy acquired during their formation. An important area of contention in the exoplanet community is whether outer planets (>10 au) more massive than Jupiter form by way of one-step gravitational instabilities or, rather, through a two-step process involving accretion of a core followed by accumulation of a massive outer envelope composed primarily of hydrogen and helium.

Amplitude variations on a MEMS-based extreme adaptive optics coronagraph testbed.

High-contrast imaging techniques such as coronagraphy are expected to play an important role in the imaging of extrasolar planets. Instruments like the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) or the Spectro-Polar-Imetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) require high-dynamic range, achieved using coronagraphs to block light coming from the parent star. An extremely good adaptive optics (AO) system is required to reduce dynamic atmospheric wavefront errors to 50-100 nm rms.

The effect of a small heat source on PSF stability for high-contrast imaging.

High-contrast adaptive optics systems, such as those needed to image extrasolar planets, are known to require excellent wavefront control and diffraction suppression. The Laboratory for Adaptive Optics at UC Santa Cruz is investigating limits to high-contrast imaging in support of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). In this paper we examine the effect of heat sources in the testbed on point-spread-function (PSF) stability.

Stroke saturation on a MEMS deformable mirror for woofer-tweeter adaptive optics.

High-contrast imaging of extrasolar planet candidates around a main-sequence star has recently been realized from the ground using current adaptive optics (AO) systems. Advancing such observations will be a task for the Gemini Planet Imager, an upcoming "extreme" AO instrument. High-order "tweeter" and low-order "woofer" deformable mirrors (DMs) will supply a >90%-Strehl correction, a specialized coronagraph will suppress the stellar flux, and any planets can then be imaged in the "dark hole" region.

Direct imaging of multiple planets orbiting the star HR 8799.

Direct imaging of exoplanetary systems is a powerful technique that can reveal Jupiter-like planets in wide orbits, can enable detailed characterization of planetary atmospheres, and is a key step toward imaging Earth-like planets. Imaging detections are challenging because of the combined effect of small angular separation and large luminosity contrast between a planet and its host star. High-contrast observations with the Keck and Gemini telescopes have revealed three planets orbiting the star HR 8799, with projected separations of 24, 38, and 68 astronomical units.

Laboratory demonstration of accurate and efficient nanometer-level wavefront control for extreme adaptive optics.

A 32 x 32 microelectricalmechanical systems mirror is controlled in a closed-loop adaptive optics test bed with a spatially filtered wavefront sensor (WFS), Fourier transform wavefront reconstruction, and calibration of references with a high-precision interferometer. When correcting the inherent aberration of the mirror, 0.7 nm rms phase error in the controllable band is achieved.

Fourier transform wavefront control with adaptive prediction of the atmosphere.

Predictive Fourier control is a temporal power spectral density-based adaptive method for adaptive optics that predicts the atmosphere under the assumption of frozen flow. The predictive controller is based on Kalman filtering and a Fourier decomposition of atmospheric turbulence using the Fourier transform reconstructor. It provides a stable way to compensate for arbitrary numbers of atmospheric layers.

Optimal Fourier control performance and speckle behavior in high-contrast imaging with adaptive optics.

High-contrast imaging with adaptive optics (AO) for planet detection requires a sophisticated AO control system to provide the best possible performance. We evaluate the performance improvements in terms of residual error and point-spread function intensity provided by optimal Fourier control using detailed end-to-end simulation. Intensity, however, is not the final measure of system performance.

Demonstrating sub-nm closed loop MEMS flattening.

Ground based high-contrast imaging (e.g. extrasolar giant planet detection) has demanding wavefront control requirements two orders of magnitude more precise than standard adaptive optics systems.

Effect of wavefront error on 10(-7) contrast measurements.

Received October 11, 2005; accepted November 10, 2005; posted December 2, 2005 (Doc. ID 65234) We have measured a contrast of 6.5 x 10(-8) from 10 to 25 lambda/D in visible light on the Extreme Adaptive Optics testbed, using a shaped pupil for diffraction suppression.

Experimental demonstration of phase correction with a 32 x 32 microelectromechanical systems mirror and a spatially filtered wavefront sensor.

A 32 x 32 microelectromechanical systems deformable mirror is controlled in closed loop with a spatially filtered Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor and a Fourier-transform wavefront reconstruction algorithm. A phase plate based on atmospheric turbulence statistics is used to generate a 1 microm peak-valley static phase aberration. Far-field images and direct phase measurements of the residual are used to compare performance with and without the spatial filter.

Performance of the Keck Observatory adaptive-optics system.

The adaptive-optics (AO) system at the W. M. Keck Observatory is characterized.

Spatially filtered wave-front sensor for high-order adaptive optics.

Adaptive optics (AO) systems take sampled measurements of the wave-front phase. Because in the general case the spatial-frequency content of the phase aberration is not band limited, aliasing will occur. This aliasing will cause increased residual error and increased scattered light in the point-spread function (PSF).

Experimental validation of Fourier-transform wave-front reconstruction at the Palomar Observatory.

Wave-front reconstruction with use of the Fourier transform has been validated through theory and simulation. This method provides a dramatic reduction in computational costs for large adaptive (AO) systems. Because such a reconstructor can be expressed as a matrix, it can be used as an alternative in a matrix-based AO control system.