Visible-Light High-Contrast Imaging and Polarimetry with SCExAO/VAMPIRES

Miles Lucas; Barnaby Norris; Olivier Guyon; Michael Bottom; Vincent Deo; Sébastian Vievard; Julien Lozi; Kyohoon Ahn; Jaren Ashcraft; Thayne Currie; David Doelman; Tomoyuki Kudo; Lucie Leboulleux; Lucinda Lilley; Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer; Boris Safonov; Peter Tuthill; Taichi Uyama; Aidan Walk; Manxuan Zhang

arXiv · 2410.12199

Visible-Light High-Contrast Imaging and Polarimetry with SCExAO/VAMPIRES

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Abstract

We present significant upgrades to the VAMPIRES instrument, a visible-light (600 nm to 800 nm) high-contrast imaging polarimeter integrated within SCExAO on the Subaru telescope. Key enhancements include new qCMOS detectors, coronagraphs, polarization optics, and a multiband imaging mode, improving sensitivity, resolution, and efficiency. These upgrades position VAMPIRES as a powerful tool for studying sub-stellar companions, accreting protoplanets, circumstellar disks, stellar jets, stellar mass-loss shells, and solar system objects. The instrument achieves angular resolutions from 17 mas to 21 mas and Strehl ratios up to 60\%, with 5$\sigma$ contrast limits of $10^{\text{-}4}$ at 0.1'' to $10^{\text{-}6}$ beyond 0.5''. We demonstrate these capabilities through spectro-polarimetric coronagraphic imaging of the HD 169142 circumstellar disk, ADI+SDI imaging of the sub-stellar companion HD 1160B, narrowband H$\alpha$ imaging of the R Aqr emission nebula, and spectro-polarimetric imaging of Neptune.

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Miles Lucas, Barnaby Norris, Olivier Guyon, Michael Bottom, Vincent Deo, Sébastian Vievard, Julien Lozi, Kyohoon Ahn, Jaren Ashcraft, Thayne Currie, David Doelman, Tomoyuki Kudo, Lucie Leboulleux, Lucinda Lilley, Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer, Boris Safonov, Peter Tuthill, Taichi Uyama, Aidan Walk, Manxuan Zhang. 2024-10-16. Visible-Light High-Contrast Imaging and Polarimetry with SCExAO/VAMPIRES. https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.12199

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