@inproceedings{ed836c0df39242f1b9ed1b840ccb5d89,
title = "NEAR: New earths in the Alpha Cen Region (bringing VISIR as a {"}visiting instrument{"} to ESO-VLT-UT4)",
abstract = "By adding a dedicated coronagraph, 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 instru- ment has. After the VISIR upgrade in 2012, where coronagraphic masks were first added to VISIR, it became evident that coronagraphy at a ground-based 8m-class telescope critically needs adaptive optics, even at wavelengths as long as 10μm. For VISIR, a work-horse observatory facility instrument in normal operations, this is {"}easiest{"} achieved by bringing VISIR as a visiting instrument to the ESO-VLT-UT4 having an adaptive M2. This {"}visit{"} enables a meaningful search for Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around both α-Cen1,2. Meaningful here means, achieving a contrast of ∼ 10-6 within ∼ 0.8arcsec from the star while maintaining basically the normal sensitivity of VISIR. This should allow to detect a planet twice the diameter of Earth. Key components will be a diffractive coronagraphic mask, the annular groove phase mask (AGPM), optimized for the most sensitive spectral band-pass in the N-band, complemented by a sophisticated apodizer at the level of the Lyot stop. For VISIR noise filtering based on fast chopping is required. A novel internal chopper system will be integrated into the cryostat. This chopper is based on the standard technique from early radio astronomy, conceived by the microwave pioneer Robert Dicke in 1946, which was instrumental for the discovery of the 3K radio background.",
keywords = "alpha-Cen, apodization, coronagraphy, exo-Earth, extreme AO, habitable zone, thermal infrared",
author = "K{\"a}ufl, {Hans Ulrich} and Markus Kasper and Robin Arsenault and Gerd Jakob and Serban Leveratto and Gerard Zins and Eloy Fuenteseca and Miguel Riquelme and Ralf Siebenmorgen and Michael Sterzik and Nancy Ageorges and Sven Gutruf and Dirk Kampf and Arnd Reutlinger and Olivier Absil and Brunella Carlomagno and Olivier Guyon and Pete Klupar and Dimitri Mawet and Garreth Ruane and Mikael Karlsson and Eric Pantin and Kjetil Dohlen",
note = "Funding Information: This project was only possible with the enthusiastic support of many staff at ESO, but also in the community. Of particular importance is a grant by the Breakthrough Initiatives and the generous offer of DDT by ESO{\textquoteright}s Director General. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 SPIE.; Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VII 2018 ; Conference date: 10-06-2018 Through 14-06-2018",
year = "2018",
doi = "10.1117/12.2313395",
language = "English (US)",
isbn = "9781510619579",
series = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",
publisher = "SPIE",
editor = "Luc Simard and Luc Simard and Evans, {Christopher J.} and Hideki Takami",
booktitle = "Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VII",
}