TY - JOUR
T1 - The VAMPIRES instrument
T2 - Imaging the innermost regions of protoplanetary discs with polarimetric interferometry
AU - Norris, Barnaby
AU - Schworer, Guillaume
AU - Tuthill, Peter
AU - Jovanovic, Nemanja
AU - Guyon, Olivier
AU - Stewart, Paul
AU - Martinache, Frantz
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Authors.
PY - 2015/3/1
Y1 - 2015/3/1
N2 - Direct imaging of protoplanetary discs promises to provide key insight into the complex sequence of processes by which planets are formed. However, imaging the innermost region of such discs (a zone critical to planet formation) is challenging for traditional observational techniques (such as near-IR imaging and coronagraphy) due to the relatively long wavelengths involved and the area occulted by the coronagraphic mask. Here, we introduce a new instrument - Visible Aperture-Masking Polarimetric Interferometer for Resolving Exoplanetary Signatures (VAMPIRES) - which combines non-redundant aperturemasking interferometry with differential polarimetry to directly image this previously inaccessible innermost region. By using the polarization of light scattered by dust in the disc to provide precise differential calibration of interferometric visibilities and closure phases, VAMPIRES allows direct imaging at and beyond the telescope diffraction limit. Integrated into the SCExAO (Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics) system at the Subaru telescope, VAMPIRES operates at visible wavelengths (where polarization is high) while allowing simultaneous infrared observations conducted by HICIAO. Here, we describe the instrumental design and unique observing technique and present the results of the first on-sky commissioning observations, validating the excellent visibility and closure-phase precision which are then used to project expected science performance metrics.
AB - Direct imaging of protoplanetary discs promises to provide key insight into the complex sequence of processes by which planets are formed. However, imaging the innermost region of such discs (a zone critical to planet formation) is challenging for traditional observational techniques (such as near-IR imaging and coronagraphy) due to the relatively long wavelengths involved and the area occulted by the coronagraphic mask. Here, we introduce a new instrument - Visible Aperture-Masking Polarimetric Interferometer for Resolving Exoplanetary Signatures (VAMPIRES) - which combines non-redundant aperturemasking interferometry with differential polarimetry to directly image this previously inaccessible innermost region. By using the polarization of light scattered by dust in the disc to provide precise differential calibration of interferometric visibilities and closure phases, VAMPIRES allows direct imaging at and beyond the telescope diffraction limit. Integrated into the SCExAO (Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics) system at the Subaru telescope, VAMPIRES operates at visible wavelengths (where polarization is high) while allowing simultaneous infrared observations conducted by HICIAO. Here, we describe the instrumental design and unique observing technique and present the results of the first on-sky commissioning observations, validating the excellent visibility and closure-phase precision which are then used to project expected science performance metrics.
KW - Instrumentation: high angular resolution
KW - Instrumentation: interferometers
KW - Instrumentation: polarimeters
KW - Planet-disc interactions
KW - Protoplanetary discs
KW - Techniques: interferometric
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930957178&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84930957178&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stu2529
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stu2529
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84930957178
VL - 447
SP - 2894
EP - 2906
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
SN - 0035-8711
IS - 3
ER -