A Zero Read Noise, High Speed, High Sensitivity Photometer and Polarimeter: An Instrument for the Direct Detection of Inner Extrasolar Planets and Debris Disks

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AST-0352989/Potter, U. ArizonaThe award will support the development of a photometer/polarimeter that will achieve photometric accuracies as good as one part in 100,000. This is approximately a 50 times improvement over accuracies presently available with existing panoramic solid-state detector arrays (like charge coupled devices). The instrument will allow 2 meter class telescopes to achieve sufficient photometric sensitivity to detect circumstellar debris disks around the nearest stars at a level of only ten times that of our present day solar system, and to detect intensity variations caused by the changing phases of reflected light from orbiting planets. This instrument may influence future instrument designs to make the next generation of large telescopes several orders of magnitude more sensitive and efficient photon collectors.