GALICHER , Raphaël

Direct imaging is the primary technique currently used to detect young and warm exoplanets and understand their formation scenarios. The extreme flux r atio b etween a n e xoplanet a nd i ts h ost s tar r equires t he u se of coronagraphs to attenuate the starlight and create high contrast images. However, their performance is limited by...

Direct imaging of exoplanets is very attractive but challenging and specific instruments like Sphere (VLT) or GPI (Gemini) are required to provide contrasts up to 16-17 magnitudes at a fraction of arcsec. To reach higher contrasts and detect fainter exoplanets, more-achromatic coronagraphs and a more-accurate wavefront control are needed. We...

SAXO+ is a planned enhancement of the existing SAXO, the VLT/ SPHERE adaptive optics system, deployed on ESO's Very Large Telescope. This upgrade is designed to significantly enhance the instrument's capacity to detect and analyze young Jupiter-like planets. The pivotal addition in SAXO+ is a second-stage adaptive optics system featuring a...