| 29 | 29 | || '''12.10.2018[[BR]](11hrs, MPIA Hoersaal)''' || '''Hans-Ulrich Kaeufl (ESO)''' || '''NEAR - Planet search around Alpha Centauri with VISIR[[BR]]'''[[BR]]ESO, in collaboration with the Breakthrough Initiatives, modifies the Very Large Telescope mid-IR imager (VISIR) to further boost the high dynamic range imaging capability this instrument has, by adding a dedicated coronagraph. This enables a meaningful search for potentially habitable planets around both Alpha Cen1 and 2. Meaningful here means, achieving a contrast of ~10^-6^ within ~0.8arcsec from the star while maintaining basically the normal sensitivity of VISIR. For risk mitigation all components are being tested and qualified under realistic conditions in the lab at ESO headquarters before integration into the instrument. [[BR]] [[BR]]Hans-Ulrich Kaeufl will give an overview of [[BR]]- the optical changes to VISIR [[BR]]- the implementation of wave front sensing [[BR]]- the Dicke switch (fast chopping for noise suppression) design and laboratory testing [[BR]]- the Annular Groove Phase Mask design and laboratory testing [[BR]]- non common path error control with a ZELDA mask [[BR]]- sensitivity and contrast estimates [[BR]]- data flow and analysis [[BR]]- the overall project status, plan and outlook [[BR]] [[BR]]Needless to say that this project is of critical interest for future infrared instrumentation at the next generation of extremely large telescopes aiming at surveying the solar neighbourhood for terrestrial planets by detecting and characterizing them based on their mid-IR fluxes. Therefore some emphasis will be put on the verification of the novel chopper system, the Dicke switch.[[BR]][[BR]]Presentation: German[[BR]][https://svn.mpia.de/trac/gulli/att/raw-attachment/wiki/AlteVortraege2018S2/2018-10-12_NEAR.pdf Slides: English][[BR]]Questions: German, English || |
