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Enabling the Direct Detection of Earth-Sized Exoplanets with the LBTI HOSTS Project: A Progress ReportNASA has funded a project called the Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems (HOSTS) to survey nearby solar type stars to determine the amount of warm zodiacal dust in their habitable zones. The goal is not only to determine the luminosity distribution function but also to know which individual stars have the least amount of zodiacal dust. It is important to have this information for future missions that directly image exoplanets as this dust is the main source of astrophysical noise for them. The HOSTS project utilizes the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), which consists of two 8.4-m apertures separated by a 14.4-m baseline on Mt. Graham, Arizona. The LBTI operates in a nulling mode in the mid-infrared spectral window (8-13 micrometers), in which light from the two telescopes is coherently combined with a 180 degree phase shift between them, producing a dark fringe at the location of the target star. In doing so the starlight is greatly reduced, increasing the contrast, analogous to a coronagraph operating at shorter wavelengths. The LBTI is a unique instrument, having only three warm reflections before the starlight reaches cold mirrors, giving it the best photometric sensitivity of any interferometer operating in the mid-infrared. It also has a superb Adaptive Optics (AO) system giving it Strehl ratios greater than 98% at 10 micrometers. In 2014 into early 2015 LBTI was undergoing commissioning. The HOSTS. project team passed its Operational Readiness Review (ORR) in April 2015. The team recently published papers on the target sample, modeling of the nulled disk images, and initial results such as the detection of warm dust around eta Corvi. Recently a paper was published on the data pipeline and on-sky performance. An additional paper is in preparation on Beta Leo. We will discuss the scientific and programmatic context for the LBTI project, and we will report recent progress, new results, and plans for the science verification phase that started in February 2016, and for the survey.
Document ID
20170006053
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Danchi, W.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Bailey, V.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Bryden, G.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Defrere, D.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Ertel, S.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Haniff, C.
(Cambridge Univ. Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Hinz, P.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Kennedy, G.
(Cambridge Univ. Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Mennesson, B.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Millan-Gabet, R.
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Rieke, G.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Roberge, A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Serabyn, E.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Skemer, A.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Stapelfeldt, K.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Weinberger, A.
(Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, DC, United States)
Wyatt, M.
(Cambridge Univ. Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Vaz, A.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Date Acquired
July 3, 2017
Publication Date
June 26, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Proceedings of SPIE
Publisher: SPIE
Volume: 9907
ISSN: 0277-786X
e-ISSN: 1996-756X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Statistics And Probability
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN48753
GSFC-E-DAA-TN43750
Meeting Information
Meeting: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Country: United Kingdom
Start Date: June 26, 2016
End Date: July 1, 2016
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: ERC-279973
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems (HOSTS)

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