Mapping Habitable Planetary Environments with Exoplanet Imaging

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The goal of our research is to image close-in exoplanets around nearby stars using new photonics technologies. In FY2022, we have continued upgrades to the AO system at Subaru Telescope and validated achromatic phase shifters for the PNC. We have also observed close-in exoplanets.We are on track to make the Subaru Telescope the most capable exoplanet imaging facility for planets within ~10 a.u. of their stars. Specifically (1) By combining the PNC technology with high performance AO at near-IR wavelength, we will open up the small angular separation regime not previously accessible, (2) We will be the first 8+m facility to provide correction of 3000 modes at 2 kHz speed, (3) We will be the first large telescope to deploy the photonic nulling technology on-sky, with no other facility scheduled to do so within the next ~3yr, (4) The AO wavefront sensing we are developing for the project is significantly more sensitive than existing alternatives.Our team announced in FY2022 two major exoplanet discoveries. The AB Aurigae b planet (Currie et al. 2022, Nature Astronomy) is a still-accreting giant planet within the dust and gas disk of the AB Aur young star. The discovery is the best evidence for the gravitational instability planet formation model, where planets form as a gas cloud suddenly collapses under its own gravity. We reported discovery of the HIP 99770 b planet (Currie et al. 2023, Science) is the first exoplanet discovered by followup of targets identified by astrometric acceleration.