Visible-light High-contrast Imaging and Polarimetry with SCExAO/VAMPIRES
Abstract We present significant upgrades to the Visible Aperture-Masking Polarimetric Imager/Interferometer for Resolving Exoplanetary Signatures (VAMPIRES) instrument, a visible-light (600–800 nm) high-contrast imaging polarimeter integrated within SCExAO on the Subaru telescope. Key enhancements include new qCMOS detectors, coronagraphs, polarization optics, and a multiband imaging mode, improving sensitivity, resolution, and efficiency. These upgrades position VAMPIRES as a powerful tool for studying sub-stellar companions, accreting protoplanets, circumstellar disks, stellar jets, stellar mass-loss shells, and solar system objects. The instrument achieves angular resolutions from 17 to 21 mas and Strehl ratios up to 60%, with 5 σ contrast limits of 10 −4 at 0.″1 to 10 −6 beyond 0.″5. We demonstrate these capabilities through spectro-polarimetric coronagraphic imaging of the HD 169142 circumstellar disk, ADI+SDI imaging of the sub-stellar companion HD 1160B, narrowband H α imaging of the R Aqr emission nebula, and spectro-polarimetric imaging of Neptune.
Authors
- Maxwell A. Millar‐Blanchaer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6205-9233)
- David Doelman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0695-0480)
- Peter Tuthill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7026-6291)
- Thayne Currie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7405-3119)
- Olivier Guyon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1097-9908)
- Lucie Leboulleux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8566-2577)
- Julien Lozi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3047-1845)
- Michael Bottom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1341-5531)
- Boris S. Safonov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1713-3208)
- Kyohoon Ahn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1094-852X)
- Barnaby Norris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8352-7515)
- Jaren N. Ashcraft (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5082-7442)
- Sébastien Vievard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4018-2569)
- Tomoyuki Kudo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9294-1793)
- Vincent Déo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4514-7906)
- Taichi Uyama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6879-3030)
- Aidan Walk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0321-0104)
- Lucinda Lilley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6274-6514)
- Miles Lucas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6341-310X)
- Manxuan Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3567-6839)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
- Published
- 2024-11-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/ad89af
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- CCD and CMOS Imaging Sensors
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.25
Funders
- Space Telescope Science Institute
- Heising-Simons Foundation
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- National Institutes of Natural Sciences
- U.S. Naval Observatory