42 research outputs found
High-contrast imaging polarimetry of exoplanets and circumstellar disks
Understanding the formation and evolution of planetary systems is one of the most fundamental challenges in astronomy. To directly image and study young exoplanets and the circumstellar disks they form from, dedicated high-contrast imaging instruments are built. Several of these instruments have polarimetric modes that are particularly powerful to reach the large contrasts required to directly image these objects as well as to characterize them. This thesis aims to improve the polarimetric sensitivity, accuracy, and capabilities of high-contrast imaging polarimeters for the detection and characterization of exoplanets and circumstellar disks. In addition, this thesis presents the first direct detections of linear polarization from self-luminous planetary mass companions. The focus of this thesis is mostly on ground-based high-contrast imaging, in particular with the instrument SPHERE-IRDIS at the Very Large Telescope. This thesis covers many aspects of high-contrast imaging polarimetry, ranging from theoretical work, calibrations, and the development of new observing techniques to actual scientific polarimetric measurements and astrophysical interpretation.</p
Original use of MUSE's laser tomography adaptive optics to directly image young accreting exoplanets
Stars and planetary system
HD 142527: quantitative disk polarimetry with SPHERE
We present high-precision photometry and polarimetry for the protoplanetary
disk around HD142527, with a focus on determining the light scattering
parameters of the dust. We re-reduced polarimetric differential imaging data of
HD142527 in the VBB (735 nm) and H-band (1625 nm) from the ZIMPOL and IRDIS
subinstruments of SPHERE/VLT. With polarimetry and photometry based on
reference star differential imaging, we were able to measure the linearly
polarized intensity and the total intensity of the light scattered by the
circumstellar disk with high precision. We used simple Monte Carlo simulations
of multiple light scattering by the disk surface to derive constraints for
three scattering parameters of the dust: the maximum polarization of , the asymmetry parameter , and the single-scattering albedo .
We measure a reflected total intensity of mJy and mJy
and a polarized intensity of mJy and mJy in the VBB
and H-band, respectively. We also find in the visual range a degree of
polarization that varies between on the far side of the disk and
on the near side. The disk shows a red color for the scattered light intensity
and the polarized intensity, which are about twice as high in the near-infrared
when compared to the visual. We determine with model calculations the
scattering properties of the dust particles and find evidence for strong
forward scattering (), relatively low single-scattering
albedo (), and high maximum polarization () at the surface on the far side of the disk for both observed
wavelengths. The optical parameters indicate the presence of large aggregate
dust particles, which are necessary to explain the high maximum polarization,
the strong forward-scattering nature of the dust, and the observed red disk
color.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figure
Disk Evolution Study Through Imaging of Nearby Young Stars (DESTINYS):Late Infall Causing Disk Misalignment and Dynamic Structures in SU Aur
Gas-rich circumstellar disks are the cradles of planet formation. As such,
their evolution will strongly influence the resulting planet population. In the
ESO DESTINYS large program, we study these disks within the first 10 Myr of
their development with near-infrared scattered light imaging. Here we present
VLT/SPHERE polarimetric observations of the nearby class II system SU Aur in
which we resolve the disk down to scales of ~7 au. In addition to the new
SPHERE observations, we utilize VLT/NACO, HST/STIS and ALMA archival data. The
new SPHERE data show the disk around SU Aur and extended dust structures in
unprecedented detail. We resolve several dust tails connected to the Keplerian
disk. By comparison with ALMA data, we show that these dust tails represent
material falling onto the disk. The disk itself shows an intricate spiral
structure and a shadow lane, cast by an inner, misaligned disk component. Our
observations suggest that SU Aur is undergoing late infall of material, which
can explain the observed disk structures. SU Aur is the clearest observational
example of this mechanism at work and demonstrates that late accretion events
can still occur in the class II phase, thereby significantly affecting the
evolution of circumstellar disks. Constraining the frequency of such events
with additional observations will help determine whether this process is
responsible for the spin-orbit misalignment in evolved exoplanet systems.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, published in ApJL on 18-02-202