VASISHT , Gautam

Spectral shaping is critical to many fields of science. In astronomy for example, the detection of exoplanets via the Doppler effect hinges on the ability to calibrate a high resolution spectrograph. Laser frequency combs can be used for this, but the wildly varying intensity across the spectrum can make it impossible to optimally utilize the...

The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) project aims to image the period of planet assembly directly, resolving structures as small as a giant planet's Hill sphere. These images will be required in order to determine the key mechanisms for planet formation at the time when processes of grain growth, protoplanet assembly, magnetic fields, disk/planet...

The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) Project has formed a Technical Working Group (TWG) to explore possible facility architectures to meet the primary PFI science goal of imaging planet formation in situ in nearby star- forming regions. The goals of being sensitive to dust emission on solar system scales and resolving the Hill-sphere around...

Context. Gaps in circumstellar disks can signal the existence of planetary perturbers, making such systems preferred targets for direct imaging observations of exoplanets. Aims: Being one of the brightest and closest stars to the Sun, the photometric standard star Vega hosts a two-belt debris disk structure. Together with the fact that its...

Despite recent advancements, many fundamental questions still surround the processes that are involved in planetary birth: Where in the protoplanetary disk do the planets form and how do they grow? What factors determine the final architecture of planetary systems? How are water and other volatiles delivered to the protoplanets and how does...

The Planet Formation Imager (PFI, www.planetformationimager.org) is a next-generation infrared interferometer array with the primary goal of imaging the active phases of planet formation in nearby star forming regions. PFI will be sensitive to warm dust emission using mid-infrared capabilities made possible by precise fringe tracking in the...

International audience

Diffraction fundamentally limits our ability to image and characterize exoplanets. Interferometry offers some advantages in exoplanet detection and characterization and we explore in this white paper some of the potential scientific breakthroughs possible.

In this white paper, we explore how higher angular resolution beyond ALMA and 8m-class telescopes can extend our understanding of the key stages of planet formation, to resolve accreting circumplanetary disks themselves, and to watch planets forming in situ for the nearest star-forming regions.