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Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri

Giant exoplanets on wide orbits have been directly imaged around young stars. If the thermal background in the mid-infrared can be mitigated, then exoplanets with lower masses can also be imaged. Here we present a ground-based mid-infrared observing approach that enables imaging low-mass temperate e...

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Autores principales: Wagner, K., Boehle, A., Pathak, P., Kasper, M., Arsenault, R., Jakob, G., Käufl, U., Leveratto, S., Maire, A.-L., Pantin, E., Siebenmorgen, R., Zins, G., Absil, O., Ageorges, N., Apai, D., Carlotti, A., Choquet, É., Delacroix, C., Dohlen, K., Duhoux, P., Forsberg, P., Fuenteseca, E., Gutruf, S., Guyon, O., Huby, E., Kampf, D., Karlsson, M., Kervella, P., Kirchbauer, J.-P., Klupar, P., Kolb, J., Mawet, D., N’Diaye, M., Orban de Xivry, G., Quanz, S. P., Reutlinger, A., Ruane, G., Riquelme, M., Soenke, C., Sterzik, M., Vigan, A., de Zeeuw, T.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7876126/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33568657
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21176-6
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author Wagner, K.
Boehle, A.
Pathak, P.
Kasper, M.
Arsenault, R.
Jakob, G.
Käufl, U.
Leveratto, S.
Maire, A.-L.
Pantin, E.
Siebenmorgen, R.
Zins, G.
Absil, O.
Ageorges, N.
Apai, D.
Carlotti, A.
Choquet, É.
Delacroix, C.
Dohlen, K.
Duhoux, P.
Forsberg, P.
Fuenteseca, E.
Gutruf, S.
Guyon, O.
Huby, E.
Kampf, D.
Karlsson, M.
Kervella, P.
Kirchbauer, J.-P.
Klupar, P.
Kolb, J.
Mawet, D.
N’Diaye, M.
Orban de Xivry, G.
Quanz, S. P.
Reutlinger, A.
Ruane, G.
Riquelme, M.
Soenke, C.
Sterzik, M.
Vigan, A.
de Zeeuw, T.
author_facet Wagner, K.
Boehle, A.
Pathak, P.
Kasper, M.
Arsenault, R.
Jakob, G.
Käufl, U.
Leveratto, S.
Maire, A.-L.
Pantin, E.
Siebenmorgen, R.
Zins, G.
Absil, O.
Ageorges, N.
Apai, D.
Carlotti, A.
Choquet, É.
Delacroix, C.
Dohlen, K.
Duhoux, P.
Forsberg, P.
Fuenteseca, E.
Gutruf, S.
Guyon, O.
Huby, E.
Kampf, D.
Karlsson, M.
Kervella, P.
Kirchbauer, J.-P.
Klupar, P.
Kolb, J.
Mawet, D.
N’Diaye, M.
Orban de Xivry, G.
Quanz, S. P.
Reutlinger, A.
Ruane, G.
Riquelme, M.
Soenke, C.
Sterzik, M.
Vigan, A.
de Zeeuw, T.
author_sort Wagner, K.
collection PubMed
description Giant exoplanets on wide orbits have been directly imaged around young stars. If the thermal background in the mid-infrared can be mitigated, then exoplanets with lower masses can also be imaged. Here we present a ground-based mid-infrared observing approach that enables imaging low-mass temperate exoplanets around nearby stars, and in particular within the closest stellar system, α Centauri. Based on 75–80% of the best quality images from 100 h of cumulative observations, we demonstrate sensitivity to warm sub-Neptune-sized planets throughout much of the habitable zone of α Centauri A. This is an order of magnitude more sensitive than state-of-the-art exoplanet imaging mass detection limits. We also discuss a possible exoplanet or exozodiacal disk detection around α Centauri A. However, an instrumental artifact of unknown origin cannot be ruled out. These results demonstrate the feasibility of imaging rocky habitable-zone exoplanets with current and upcoming telescopes.
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spelling pubmed-78761262021-02-24 Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri Wagner, K. Boehle, A. Pathak, P. Kasper, M. Arsenault, R. Jakob, G. Käufl, U. Leveratto, S. Maire, A.-L. Pantin, E. Siebenmorgen, R. Zins, G. Absil, O. Ageorges, N. Apai, D. Carlotti, A. Choquet, É. Delacroix, C. Dohlen, K. Duhoux, P. Forsberg, P. Fuenteseca, E. Gutruf, S. Guyon, O. Huby, E. Kampf, D. Karlsson, M. Kervella, P. Kirchbauer, J.-P. Klupar, P. Kolb, J. Mawet, D. N’Diaye, M. Orban de Xivry, G. Quanz, S. P. Reutlinger, A. Ruane, G. Riquelme, M. Soenke, C. Sterzik, M. Vigan, A. de Zeeuw, T. Nat Commun Article Giant exoplanets on wide orbits have been directly imaged around young stars. If the thermal background in the mid-infrared can be mitigated, then exoplanets with lower masses can also be imaged. Here we present a ground-based mid-infrared observing approach that enables imaging low-mass temperate exoplanets around nearby stars, and in particular within the closest stellar system, α Centauri. Based on 75–80% of the best quality images from 100 h of cumulative observations, we demonstrate sensitivity to warm sub-Neptune-sized planets throughout much of the habitable zone of α Centauri A. This is an order of magnitude more sensitive than state-of-the-art exoplanet imaging mass detection limits. We also discuss a possible exoplanet or exozodiacal disk detection around α Centauri A. However, an instrumental artifact of unknown origin cannot be ruled out. These results demonstrate the feasibility of imaging rocky habitable-zone exoplanets with current and upcoming telescopes. Nature Publishing Group UK 2021-02-10 /pmc/articles/PMC7876126/ /pubmed/33568657 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21176-6 Text en © The Author(s) 2021, corrected publication 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Wagner, K.
Boehle, A.
Pathak, P.
Kasper, M.
Arsenault, R.
Jakob, G.
Käufl, U.
Leveratto, S.
Maire, A.-L.
Pantin, E.
Siebenmorgen, R.
Zins, G.
Absil, O.
Ageorges, N.
Apai, D.
Carlotti, A.
Choquet, É.
Delacroix, C.
Dohlen, K.
Duhoux, P.
Forsberg, P.
Fuenteseca, E.
Gutruf, S.
Guyon, O.
Huby, E.
Kampf, D.
Karlsson, M.
Kervella, P.
Kirchbauer, J.-P.
Klupar, P.
Kolb, J.
Mawet, D.
N’Diaye, M.
Orban de Xivry, G.
Quanz, S. P.
Reutlinger, A.
Ruane, G.
Riquelme, M.
Soenke, C.
Sterzik, M.
Vigan, A.
de Zeeuw, T.
Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri
title Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri
title_full Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri
title_fullStr Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri
title_full_unstemmed Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri
title_short Imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α Centauri
title_sort imaging low-mass planets within the habitable zone of α centauri
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7876126/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33568657
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21176-6
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