Direct Detection & Characterization of Extra-Solar Planets

这一奖项将有助于支持一个为期三年的项目，研究年轻的系外行星(围绕其他恒星的行星)，以及形成行星的碎片盘。观测将结合使用高角度分辨率和动态范围成像。这项工作将包括三个部分：(1)系外行星及其相关碎片盘的直接成像确定了盘中颗粒群的组成、大小分布和孔隙度；(2)使用新的高精度偏振仪对系外行星进行光学调查，以探测系外行星大气中的散射光；以及(3)通过识别年轻恒星和测量近似年龄，为未来使用双子星成像仪进行系外行星调查做准备。该项目旨在发现与其母星大范围分离的行星，这将检验行星形成理论，并帮助确定核心吸积或引力盘不稳定是有效的范例。行星直径的测量将提供有关物质在极端压力下的行为的信息。这项研究中的许多残骸圆盘可能处于类似于我们太阳系后期重击时代的阶段；在这个时代，散布的小天体将水带到了陆地行星带，并使地球上的生命得以存在。

This award will help support a three-year project to study young exoplanets (planets around other stars), along with the debris disks out of which the planets formed. The observations will use a combination of high angular resolution and dynamic range imaging. There will be three components to this effort: (1) direct imaging of exoplanets and their associated debris disks determine the composition, size distribution, and porosity of the grain populations in the disks; (2) an optical survey of exoplanets using a new, high precision polarimeter to detect scattered light from exoplanet atmospheres; and (3) preparation for future exoplanet surveys with the Gemini Planet Imager by identifying young stars and measuring approximate ages.This project is designed to find planets at large separation from their parent stars, which will test planet formation theory and help decide if core accretion or gravitational disk instability are valid paradigms. Measurements of planetary diameters will provide information about the behavior of matter at extreme pressures. Many of the debris disks in this study may be in a stage similar to the late heavy bombardment era in our own Solar System; during this era, scattering of small bodies brought water to the terrestrial planet zone and enabled life on Earth.