Project 1640

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Project 1640 is a high contrast imaging project at Palomar Observatory. It seeks to image brown dwarfs and Jupiter-sized planets around nearby stars. [1] Rebecca Oppenheimer, associate curator and chair of the Astrophysics Department at the American Museum of Natural History, is the principal investigator for the project. [2]

Contents

Instruments

The two main instruments behind Project 1640 is an Integral field spectrograph (IFS) and an Apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph at the Hale Telescope at Palomar. [1] This instrument is the basis of a high-contrast imaging long-term observational program. The instrument uses the chromatic nature of the speckle noise to distinguish it from any true astrophysical companions, including software which increases sensitivity by 10-20 times. [1] [3] Such sensitivity can detect planets of several Jupiter masses. The spectrograph obtains 23 images across the J and H bands (1.06-1.78 µm), with a spectral resolution of 45. In approximately 2013, a Post-coronagraph Wave Front Calibration System was added. Its goal is to achieve a wave front irregularity of less than 10 nm. [1]

Preliminary results

On March 10, 2013, Project 1640 made its first remote imaging of another solar system. It imaged four red exoplanets orbiting the star HR8799, 128 light years away from Earth, determining the spectra for all four. [4] One significant result was the detection of a chemical abnormality. At normal temperatures, such as those surrounding the four exoplanets, ammonia and methane should both be present in significant amounts. [4] However, the exoplanets have either ammonia or methane in abundance, while the other chemical is missing. Other chemicals such as acetylene (not previously detected on any exoplanet) may also be present. There is also a significant cloud cover on the planets. [4] [2]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcor (star)</span> Star in the constellation of Ursa Major

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mizar and Alcor</span> Binary Stars in the Big Dipper Constellation

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Rebecca Oppenheimer is an American astrophysicist and one of four curator/professors in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Oppenheimer is a comparative exoplanetary scientist. She investigates planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. Her optics laboratory is the birthplace of a number of new astronomical instruments designed to tackle the problem of directly seeing and taking spectra of nearby solar systems with exoplanets and studying their composition, with the ultimate goal of finding life outside the solar system.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">HR 8799 c</span> Exoplanet orbiting HR 8799

HR 8799 c is an extrasolar planet located approximately 129 light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus, orbiting the 6th magnitude Lambda Boötis star HR 8799. This planet has a mass between 5 and 10 Jupiter masses and a radius from 20 to 30% larger than Jupiter's. It orbits at 38 AU from HR 8799 with an unknown eccentricity and a period of 190 years; it is the 2nd planet discovered in the HR 8799 system. Along with two other planets orbiting HR 8799, this planet was discovered on November 13, 2008 by Marois et al., using the Keck and the Gemini observatories in Hawaii. These planets were discovered using the direct imaging technique. In January 2010, HR 8799 c became the 3rd exoplanet to have a portion of its spectrum directly observed, confirming the feasibility of direct spectrographic studies of exoplanets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HR 8799 d</span> Jovian planet orbiting HR 8799

HR 8799 d is an extrasolar planet located approximately 129 light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus, orbiting the 6th magnitude Lambda Boötis star HR 8799. It has a mass between 5 and 10 Jupiter masses and a radius from 20 to 30% larger than Jupiter's. The planet orbits at 24 AU from HR 8799 with an eccentricity greater than 0.04 and a period of 100 years. Upon initial discovery, it was the innermost known planet in the HR 8799 system, but e, discovered later, is now known to be closer to their parent star. Along with two other planets orbiting HR 8799, this planet was discovered on November 13, 2008 by Marois et al., using the Keck and Gemini observatories in Hawaii. These planets were discovered using the direct imaging technique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HR 8799 e</span> Jovian planet orbiting HR 8799

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Crepp, Justin R.; Pueyo, Laurent; Brenner, Douglas; Oppenheimer, Ben R.; Zimmerman, Neil; Hinkley, Sasha; Parry, Ian; King, David; Vasisht, Gautam; Beichman, Charles; Hillenbrand, Lynne; Dekany, Richard; Shao, Mike; Burruss, Rick; Roberts, Lewis C. (2011-02-18). "Speckle Suppression with the Project 1640 Integral Field Spectrograph". The Astrophysical Journal. 729 (2): 132. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/729/2/132. ISSN   0004-637X. S2CID   35264912.
  2. 1 2 "Project 1640 Conducts First Remote Reconnaissance of Another Solar System". American Museum of Natural History. March 10, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  3. ↑ Hinkley, Sasha; Oppenheimer, Ben R.; Zimmerman, Neil; Brenner, Douglas; Parry, Ian R.; Crepp, Justin R.; Vasisht, Gautam; Ligon, Edgar; King, David; Soummer, Remi; Sivaramakrishnan, Anand; Beichman, Charles; Shao, Michael; Roberts, Jr; Bouchez, Antonin (2011). "A New High Contrast Imaging Program at Palomar Observatory". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 123 (899): 74–86. arXiv: 1012.0008 . doi:10.1086/658163. S2CID   6053630.
  4. 1 2 3 Oppenheimer, B. R.; Baranec, C.; Beichman, C.; Brenner, D.; Burruss, R.; Cady, E.; Crepp, J. R.; Dekany, R.; Fergus, R.; Hale, D.; Hillenbrand, L.; Hinkley, S.; Hogg, David W.; King, D.; Ligon, E. R. (2013-04-10). "Reconnaissance of the Hr 8799 Exosolar System. I. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy". The Astrophysical Journal. 768 (1): 24. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/768/1/24. ISSN   0004-637X. S2CID   7173368.
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