ABSTRACT We present the first scattered light detections of the HD 106906 debris disk using the Gemini/Gemini Planet Imager in the infrared and Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Advanced Camera for ...Surveys in the optical. HD 106906 is a 13 Myr old F5V star in the Sco-Cen association, with a previously detected planet-mass candidate HD 106906b projected 650 AU from the host star. Our observations reveal a near edge-on debris disk that has a central cleared region with radius ∼50 AU, and an outer extent >500 AU. The HST data show that the outer regions are highly asymmetric, resembling the "needle" morphology seen for the HD 15115 debris disk. The planet candidate is oriented ∼21° away from the position angle of the primary's debris disk, strongly suggesting non-coplanarity with the system. We hypothesize that HD 106906b could be dynamically involved in the perturbation of the primary's disk, and investigate whether or not there is evidence for a circumplanetary dust disk or cloud that is either primordial or captured from the primary. We show that both the existing optical properties and near-infrared colors of HD 106906b are weakly consistent with this possibility, motivating future work to test for the observational signatures of dust surrounding the planet.
OSIRIS is a near-infrared integral field spectrograph operating behind the adaptive optics system at W. M. Keck Observatory. While OSIRIS has been a scientifically productive instrument to date, its ...sensitivity has been limited by a grating efficiency that is less than half of what was expected. The spatially averaged efficiency of the old grating, weighted by error, is measured to be 39.5% ± 0.8% at λ = 1.310 μm, with a large field-dependent variation of 11.7% due to efficiency variation across the grating surface. Working with a new vendor, we developed a more efficient and uniform grating with a weighted average efficiency at λ = 1.310 μm of 78.0% ± 1.6%, with field variation of only 2.2%. This is close to double the average efficiency and 5 times less variation across the field. The new grating was installed in 2012 December, and on-sky OSIRIS throughput shows an average factor of 1.83 improvement in sensitivity between 1 and 2.4 μm. We present the development history, testing, and implementation of this new near-infrared grating for OSIRIS and report on the comparison with the predecessors. The higher sensitivities are already having a large impact on scientific studies with OSIRIS.
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ABSTRACT We present astrometric monitoring of the young exoplanet HD 95086 b obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager between 2013 and 2016. A small but significant position angle change is detected at ...constant separation; the orbital motion is confirmed with literature measurements. Efficient Monte Carlo techniques place preliminary constraints on the orbital parameters of HD 95086 b. With 68% confidence, a semimajor axis of au and an inclination of are favored, with eccentricity less than 0.21. Under the assumption of a coplanar planet-disk system, the periastron of HD 95086 b is beyond 51 au with 68% confidence. Therefore, HD 95086 b cannot carve the entire gap inferred from the measured infrared excess in the SED of HD 95086. We use our sensitivity to additional planets to discuss specific scenarios presented in the literature to explain the geometry of the debris belts. We suggest that either two planets on moderately eccentric orbits or three to four planets with inhomogeneous masses and orbital properties are possible. The sensitivity to additional planetary companions within the observations presented in this study can be used to help further constrain future dynamical simulations of the planet-disk system.
ABSTRACT We present new spatially resolved astrometry and photometry from the Gemini Planet Imager of the inner binary of the young multiple star system V343 Normae, which is a member of the β ...Pictoris (β Pic) moving group. V343 Normae comprises a K0 and mid-M star in a ∼4.5 year orbit (AaAb) and a wide 10″ M5 companion (B). By combining these data with archival astrometry and radial velocities we fit the orbit and measure individual masses for both components of and . Comparing to theoretical isochrones, we find good agreement for the measured masses and JHK band magnitudes of the two components consistent with the age of the β Pic moving group. We derive a model-dependent age for the β Pic moving group of 26 3 Myr by combining our results for V343 Normae with literature measurements for GJ 3305, which is another group member with resolved binary components and dynamical masses.
The near-infrared region offers a compelling window for interstellar communications, energy transfer, and transient detection due to low extinction and low thermal emission from dust. We have ...conducted a search for near-infrared (950-1650 nm) light pulses having durations less than 50 nanoseconds while observing 1280 astronomical objects which include a wide range of nearby stars, clusters, and galaxies. A field of view of 2 5 × 2 5 for a duration of at least 300 s was observed for each object pointing. These observations were made using the latest Near-InfraRed Optical SETI instrumentation on the Nickel telescope (1 m) at Lick Observatory. Equipped with two detectors collecting photons coming from the same part of the sky, the instrument is aimed at detecting light pulses coincident between them within nanoseconds, as well as periodic signals. While we report on a few notifications from our system, we believe these events were consistent with the statistical noise of our data. No significant evidence for repeated near-infrared nanosecond pulsed signal was found, given the instrumental limit in sensitivity of 63 ph m−2 ns−1.
During the first-light run of the Gemini Planet Imager we obtained K-band spectra of exoplanets HR 8799 c and d. Analysis of the spectra indicates that planet d may be warmer than planet c. ...Comparisons to recent patchy cloud models and previously obtained observations over multiple wavelengths confirm that thick clouds combined with horizontal variation in the cloud cover generally reproduce the planets' spectral energy distributions. When combined with the 3 to 4 mum photometric data points, the observations provide strong constraints on the atmospheric methane content for both planets. The data also provide further evidence that future modeling efforts must include cloud opacity, possibly including cloud holes, disequilibrium chemistry, and super-solar metallicity.
ABSTRACT We present the first scattered-light image of the debris disk around HD 131835 in the H band using the Gemini Planet Imager. HD 131835 is a ∼15 Myr old A2IV star at a distance of ∼120 pc in ...the Sco-Cen OB association. We detect the disk only in polarized light and place an upper limit on the peak total intensity. No point sources resembling exoplanets were identified. Compared to its mid-infrared thermal emission, in scattered light the disk shows similar orientation but different morphology. The scattered-light disk extends from ∼75 to ∼210 AU in the disk plane with roughly flat surface density. Our Monte Carlo radiative transfer model can describe the observations with a model disk composed of a mixture of silicates and amorphous carbon. In addition to the obvious brightness asymmetry due to stronger forward scattering, we discover a weak brightness asymmetry along the major axis, with the northeast side being 1.3 times brighter than the southwest side at a 3 level.
ABSTRACT We present H-band near-infrared polarimetric imaging observations of the F5V star HD 157587 obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) that reveal the debris disk as a bright ring ...structure at a separation of ∼80-100 au. The new GPI data complement recent Hubble Space Telescope/STIS observations that show the disk extending out to over 500 au. The GPI image displays a strong asymmetry along the projected minor axis as well as a fainter asymmetry along the projected major axis. We associate the minor and major axis asymmetries with polarized forward scattering and a possible stellocentric offset, respectively. To constrain the disk geometry, we fit two separate disk models to the polarized image, each using a different scattering phase function. Both models favor a disk inclination of ∼70° and a 1.5 0.6 au stellar offset in the plane of the sky along the projected major axis of the disk. We find that the stellar offset in the disk plane, perpendicular to the projected major axis is degenerate with the form of the scattering phase function and remains poorly constrained. The disk is not recovered in total intensity due in part to strong adaptive optics residuals, but we recover three point sources. Considering the system's proximity to the galactic plane and the point sources' positions relative to the disk, we consider it likely that they are background objects and unrelated to the disk's offset from the star.
We present new observations of the low-mass companion to HD 984 taken with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) as a part of the GPI Exoplanet Survey campaign. Images of HD 984 B were obtained in the J ...(1.12-1.3 m) and H (1.50-1.80 m) bands. Combined with archival epochs from 2012 and 2014, we fit the first orbit to the companion to find an 18 au (70-year) orbit with a 68% confidence interval between 14 and 28 au, an eccentricity of 0.18 with a 68% confidence interval between 0.05 and 0.47, and an inclination of 119° with a 68% confidence interval between 114° and 125°. To address the considerable spectral covariance in both spectra, we present a method of splitting the spectra into low and high frequencies to analyze the spectral structure at different spatial frequencies with the proper spectral noise correlation. Using the split spectra, we compare them to known spectral types using field brown dwarf and low-mass star spectra and find a best-fit match of a field gravity M6.5 1.5 spectral type with a corresponding temperature of K. Photometry of the companion yields a luminosity of / dex with DUSTY models. Mass estimates, again from DUSTY models, find an age-dependent mass of 34 1 to 95 4 MJup. These results are consistent with previous measurements of the object.
Using the recently installed Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), we have obtained the first H-band spectrum of the planetary companion to the nearby young star β Pictoris. GPI is designed to image and ...provide low-resolution spectra of Jupiter-sized, self-luminous planetary companions around young nearby stars. These observations were taken covering the H band (1.65 μm). The spectrum has a resolving power of ~45 and demonstrates the distinctive triangular shape of a cool substellar object with low surface gravity. Using atmospheric models, we find an effective temperature of 1600-1700 K and a surface gravity of log (g) = 3.5-4.5 (cgs units). These values agree well with "hot-start" predictions from planetary evolution models for a gas giant with mass between 10 and 12 MJup and age between 10 and 20 Myr.
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