''High-Speed, Photon-Counting Camera for the Detection of Extrasolar Planets''

Technical Report · Fri Feb 07 04:00:00 EST 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/15003349· OSTI ID:15003349

Ullom, J; Cunningham, M; Macintosh, B; Miyazaki, T; Labov, S

The search for extrasolar planets--planets orbiting stars outside out solar system-- is motivated by the desire to discover small planets similar to Earth. Since small planets are difficult to detect, the first step is finding giant planets with large orbits, like Jupiter. Solar systems containing these planets may have smaller, Earth-like planets travelling closer to the parent star. However, current methods detect extrasolar planets indirectly by observing a planet's gravitational influence on its parent star. These methods are primarily sensitive to giant planets with small orbits. A new method is needed to directly observe planets with large orbits. Direct observation can also provide additional information about a planet's composition and/or orbit. Directly observing an extrasolar planet from Earth is challenging because of the relative proximity of the planet to its parent star. Although a large, terrestrial telescope can provide the angular resolution necessary to visually separate the planet from the star, atmospheric turbulence limits the telescope's performance. In addition, the parent star appears much brighter than the planet. Adaptive optics (AO) can increase a planet's brightness, but they have little effect on residual star glare.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 15003349
• Report Number(s): UCRL-ID-151246
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BRIGHTNESS
CAMERAS
DETECTION
OPTICS
PERFORMANCE
PLANETS
RESOLUTION
SOLAR SYSTEM
STARS
TELESCOPES
TURBULENCE