The Search for Protoplanets with Aperture Masking (SPAM) Survey: Progress Update and Close-in Small Grain Protoplanetary Disk Features

Protoplanetary disks are the best places for observing planetary embryos. Direct imaging coupled with interferometric techniques, such as non-redundant masking (NRM), can help us better understand gas giant accretion timescales and dynamical interactions by resolving protoplanetary disks that exhibit evidence of planet formation. By using NRM we can achieve angular resolution down to and within the diffraction limit, and image planet formation on solar system scales (down to ∼ 3-7 AU for K and L band, respectively) given the distances to most young stars (∼150 pc). We present progress on a NRM imaging survey designed to search for protoplanets embedded in protoplanetary disks. The goals of this survey are to detect and characterize protoplanets at solar system scales in a significant sample of protoplanetary disks and to characterize disk structure and dynamical interactions. From this survey, we can place constraints on the underlying protoplanet population and timescales under which giant gas planets form at spatial separations down to ∼3-7 AU.