Differential Imaging with a Multicolor Detector Assembly: A New ExoPlanet Finder Concept

Simultaneous spectral differential imaging is a high contrast technique by which subtraction of simultaneous images reduces noise from atmospheric speckles and optical aberrations. Small non-common wave front errors between channels can seriously degrade its performance. We present a new concept, a multicolor detector assembly (MCDA), which can eliminate this problem. The device consists of an infrared detector and a microlens array onto the flat side of which a checkerboard pattern of narrow-band micro-filters is deposited, each micro-filter coinciding with a microlens. Practical considerations for successful implementation of the technique are mentioned. Numerical simulations predict a noise attenuation of 10^-3 at 0.5" for a 10^5 seconds integration on a mH=5 star of Strehl ratio 0.9 taken with an 8-m telescope. This reaches a contrast of 10^-7 at an angular distance of 0.5" from the center of the star image.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted APJ

Vers une saisie en un clic : caractérisation d'un objet 3D à partir d'une reconstruction voxellique

National audienceDans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la saisie d'objets inconnus par un bras robotique équipé d'un système de vision. Suite au travail de [1], une nouvelle méthode permettant d'améliorer l'estimation de la pose et la forme de l'objet à saisir est proposée. Cette méthode s'appuie dans un premier temps sur une reconstruction voxellique de cet objet puis sur l'estimation de ses axes principaux et de ses dimensions. Des choix simplificateurs dans notre im- plémentation des techniques de reconstruction voxellique assurent un gain en temps de calcul tout en conservant la forme générale de l'objet reconstruit

Angular Differential Imaging: a Powerful High-Contrast Imaging Technique

Angular differential imaging is a high-contrast imaging technique that reduces quasi-static speckle noise and facilitates the detection of nearby companions. A sequence of images is acquired with an altitude/azimuth telescope while the instrument field derotator is switched off. This keeps the instrument and telescope optics aligned and allows the field of view to rotate with respect to the instrument. For each image, a reference PSF is constructed from other appropriately-selected images of the same sequence and subtracted to remove quasi-static PSF structure. All residual images are then rotated to align the field and are combined. Observed performances are reported for Gemini North data. It is shown that quasi-static PSF noise can be reduced by a factor \~5 for each image subtraction. The combination of all residuals then provides an additional gain of the order of the square root of the total number of acquired images. A total speckle noise attenuation of 20-50 is obtained for one-hour long observing sequences compared to a single 30s exposure. A PSF noise attenuation of 100 was achieved for two-hour long sequences of images of Vega, reaching a 5-sigma contrast of 20 magnitudes for separations greater than 8". For a 30-minute long sequence, ADI achieves 30 times better signal-to-noise than a classical observation technique. The ADI technique can be used with currently available instruments to search for ~1MJup exoplanets with orbits of radii between 50 and 300 AU around nearby young stars. The possibility of combining the technique with other high-contrast imaging methods is briefly discussed.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Vers une saisie en un seul clic : caractérisation de la forme 3D d'un objet à partir d'informations visuelles

National audienceDans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la saisie d'objets inconnus par un bras robotique équipé d'un système de vision. Suite au travail de [1], une nouvelle méthode permettant d'améliorer l'estimation de la pose et la forme de l'objet à saisir est proposée. Cette méthode s'appuie dans un premier temps sur une reconstruction voxellique de cet objet puis sur l'estimation de ses axes principaux et de ses dimensions. Des choix simplificateurs dans notre implémentation des techniques de reconstruction voxellique assurent un gain en temps de calcul tout en conservant la forme générale de l'objet reconstruit

Effects of Quasi-Static Aberrations in Faint Companion Searches

We present the first results obtained at CFHT with the TRIDENT infrared camera, dedicated to the detection of faint companions close to bright nearby stars. The camera's main feature is the acquisition of three simultaneous images in three wavelengths (simultaneous differential imaging) across the methane absorption bandhead at 1.6 micron, that enables a precise subtraction of the primary star PSF while keeping the companion signal. The main limitation is non-common path aberrations between the three optical paths that slightly decorrelate the PSFs. Two types of PSF calibrations are combined with the differential simultaneous imaging technique to further attenuate the PSF: reference star subtraction and instrument rotation to smooth aberrations. It is shown that a faint companion with a DeltaH of 10 magnitudes would be detected at 0.5 arcsec from the primary.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, to appear in Astronomy with High Contrast Imaging, EAS Publications Serie

Application Methods for Paste Bait Formulations in Control of Ants in Arboreal Situations

Control of invasive ant species has predominantly been through the use of granular baits. These baits are not suitable for ant species that nest in trees and vegetation such as Wasmannia auropunctata, recently introduced to the Big Island and Kauai, Hawaii. In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the use of gel and paste baits for control of some invasive ant species. However, application of these bait types is difficult and time consuming. Here we describe new application methods for gel and paste baits in arboreal situations

Epigenetic regulation of asthma and allergic disease

Epigenetics of asthma and allergic disease is a field that has expanded greatly in the last decade. Previously thought only in terms of cell differentiation, it is now evident the epigenetics regulate many processes. With T cell activation, commitment toward an allergic phenotype is tightly regulated by DNA methylation and histone modifications at the Th2 locus control region. When normal epigenetic control is disturbed, either experimentally or by environmental exposures, Th1/Th2 balance can be affected. Epigenetic marks are not only transferred to daughter cells with cell replication but they can also be inherited through generations. In animal models, with constant environmental pressure, epigenetically determined phenotypes are amplified through generations and can last up to 2 generations after the environment is back to normal. In this review on the epigenetic regulation of asthma and allergic diseases we review basic epigenetic mechanisms and discuss the epigenetic control of Th2 cells. We then cover the transgenerational inheritance model of epigenetic traits and discuss how this could relate the amplification of asthma and allergic disease prevalence and severity through the last decades. Finally, we discuss recent epigenetic association studies for allergic phenotypes and related environmental risk factors as well as potential underlying mechanisms for these associations

Discovery of the brightest T dwarf in the northern hemisphere

We report the discovery of a bright (H=12.77) brown dwarf designated SIMP J013656.5+093347. The discovery was made as part of a near-infrared proper motion survey, SIMP (Sondage Infrarouge de Mouvement Propre), which uses proper motion and near-infrared/optical photometry to identify brown dwarf candidates. A low resolution (lambda/dlambda~40) spectrum of this brown dwarf covering the 0.88-2.35 microns wavelength interval is presented. Analysis of the spectrum indicates a spectral type of T2.5+/-0.5. A photometric distance of 6.4+/-0.3 pc is estimated assuming it is a single object. Current observations rule out a binary of mass ratio ~1 and separation >5 AU. SIMP 0136 is the brightest T dwarf in the northern hemisphere and is surpassed only by Eps Indi Bab over the whole sky. It is thus an excellent candidate for detailed studies and should become a benchmark object for the early-T spectral class.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, To be published in November 1, 2006 issue of ApJL. Following IAU recommendation, the survey acronym (IBIS) was changed to SIM

World Health Organization global air quality guideline recommendations: Executive summary

Air pollution is a leading cause of death globally and has resulted in the loss of millions of healthy years of life. Moreover, the health burden has fallen disproportionately upon people in many low- and middle-income countries, where air quality continues to deteriorate. To assist authorities and civil society in improving air quality, World Health Organization has published the first global update to its 2005 air quality guidelines based on a significantly improved body of evidence. To facilitate the implementation of the World Health Organization Global Air Quality Guideline recommendations, this article summarizes the purpose and rationale of the quantitative air quality guidelines and interim target levels for six key pollutants: particulate matter 2.5, particulate matter 10, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide. In addition, good practice statements are established for the management of pollutants of concern that lack sufficient evidence to substantiate numerical targets. Keywords: Global air quality; Guidelines; World Health Organization