LIGI , Roxanne

As instruments have become increasingly efficient and accurate, the detection and characterization of exoplanets has become a rapidly expanding field of research. However, the data provided are always dependent on the host stars' parameters. For example, the radial velocity measurements allow the ratio Mp sin(i)/M* to be determined, while the...

The characterization of exoplanets relies on that of their host star. However, stellar evolution models cannot always be used to derive the mass and radius of individual stars, because many stellar internal parameters are poorly constrained. Here, we use the probability density functions (PDFs) of directly measured parameters to derive the...

International audience

Kernel phase is a method to interpret stellar point source images by considering their formation as the analytical result of an interferometric process. Using Fourier formalism, this method allows for observing planetary companions around nearby stars at separations down to half a telescope resolution element, typically 20 mas for a 8m class...

Context. The conventional approach to direct imaging is to use a single aperture coronagraph with wavefront correction via extreme adaptive optics (AO). Such systems are limited to observing beyond an inner working angle (IWA) of a few λ / D. Nulling interferometry with two or more apertures will enable detections of companions at separations...

International audience

The use of interferometric nulling for the direct characterization of extrasolar planets is an exciting prospect, but one that faces many practical challenges when deployed on telescopes. The largest limitation is the extreme sensitivity of nullers to any residual optical path differences between the incoming telescope beams even after adaptive...

Very Large Telescope Inerferometer (VLTI) schools have nearly a 20-year history and have trained a significant fraction of today's optical interferometrists who use high-angular-resolution techniques on a regular basis. Very early in the development of the VLTI, training was identified by the community as a necessary tool, as the expertise in...

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