NSF/AFOSR Astronomy: The Lyot Project Survey for Exoplanets, Brown Dwarfs and Circumstellar Disks

AST-0628877/Oppenheimer，美国自然历史博物馆该奖项将涵盖Lyot Project coronograph的持续和改进应用，以及美国空军位于毛伊岛的先进电光系统望远镜的先进可变形二级自适应光学功能，以尝试直接探测系外行星。该项目是在PI仪器过去成功探测一颗褐矮星和几个碎片盘的基础上建立起来的，利用了将于2006年在望远镜设施安装的改进的可变形副镜。由于他与纽约的美国自然历史博物馆（世界上访问量最大的博物馆之一）的联系，PI为这项工作带来了更广泛的影响。

AST-0628877/Oppenheimer, American Museum of Natural HistoryThe award will cover continued and improved applications of the Lyot Project coronograph coupled with the advanced, deformable secondary-based adaptive optics capabilities of the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Electro-Optical System telescope in Maui, to attempt direct detection of exoplanets. The project builds upon past successes of the PI's instrument in the detection of a brown dwarf and several debris disks, taking advantage of an improved deformable secondary mirror to be installed at the telescope facility in 2006. The PI brings significant capabilities for broader impacts of this work by virtue of his association with the American Museum of Natural History in New York, one of the most-visited museums in the world.