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Michael P. Fitzgerald

Publications and source records attributed to Michael P. Fitzgerald.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Validation of elemental and isotopic abundances in late-M spectral types with the benchmark HIP 55507 AB system

M dwarfs are common host stars to exoplanets but often lack atmospheric abundance measurements. Late-M dwarfs are also good analogs to the youngest substellar companions, which share similar $T_{\rm eff}\sim2300-2800~K$. We present atmospheric analyses for the M7.5 companion HIP 55507 B and its K6V primary star with Keck/KPIC high-resolution ($R\sim35,000$) $K$ band spectroscopy. First, by including KPIC relative radial velocities between the primary and secondary in the orbit fit, we improve the dynamical mass precision by 60% and find $M_B=88.0_{-3.2}^{+3.4}$ $M_{\rm Jup}$, putting HIP 55507 B above the stellar-substellar boundary. We also find that HIP 55507 B orbits its K6V primary star with $a=38^{+4}_{-3}$ AU and $e=0.40\pm0.04$. From atmospheric retrievals of HIP 55507 B, we measure $\rm [C/H]=0.24\pm0.13$, $\rm [O/H]=0.15\pm0.13$, and $\rm C/O=0.67\pm0.04$. Moreover, we strongly detect $\rm ^{13}CO$ ($7.8σ$ significance) and tentatively detect $\rm H_2^{18}O$ ($3.7σ$ significance) in companion's atmosphere, and measure $\rm ^{12}CO/^{13}CO=98_{-22}^{+28}$ and $\rm H_2^{16}O/H_2^{18}O=240_{-80}^{+145}$ after accounting for systematic errors. From a simplified retrieval analysis of HIP 55507 A, we measure $\rm ^{12}CO/^{13}CO=79_{-16}^{+21}$ and $\rm C^{16}O/C^{18}O=288_{-70}^{+125}$ for the primary star. These results demonstrate that HIP 55507 A and B have consistent $\rm ^{12} C/^{13}C$ and $\rm ^{16}O/^{18}O$ to the $<1σ$ level, as expected for a chemically homogeneous binary system. Given the similar flux ratios and separations between HIP 55507 AB and systems with young, substellar companions, our results open the door to systematically measuring $\rm ^{13}CO$ and $\rm H_2^{18}O$ abundances in the atmospheres of substellar or even planetary-mass companions with similar spectral types.

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Atmospheric metallicity and C/O of HD 189733 b from high-resolution spectroscopy

We present high-resolution $K$-band emission spectra of the quintessential hot Jupiter HD 189733 b from the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC). Using a Bayesian retrieval framework, we fit the dayside pressure-temperature profile, orbital kinematics, mass-mixing ratios of H$_2$O, CO, CH$_4$, NH$_3$, HCN, and H$_2$S, and the $\rm ^{13}CO/^{12}CO$ ratio. We measure mass fractions of $\rm \log H_2O = -2.0^{+0.4}_{-0.4}$ and $\rm \log CO = -2.2^{+0.5}_{-0.5}$, and place upper limits on the remaining species. Notably, we find $\rm \log CH_4 < -4.5$ at 99\% confidence, despite its anticipated presence at the equilibrium temperature of HD 189733 b assuming local thermal equilibrium. We make a tentative ($\sim3σ$) detection of $\rm ^{13}CO$, and the retrieved posteriors suggest a $\rm ^{12}C/^{13}C$ ratio similar to or substantially less than the local interstellar value. The possible $\rm ^{13}C$ enrichment would be consistent with accretion of fractionated material in ices or in the protoplanetary disk midplane. The retrieved abundances correspond to a substantially sub-stellar atmospheric $\rm C/O = 0.3\pm0.1$, while the carbon and oxygen abundances are stellar to slightly super-stellar, consistent with core-accretion models which predict an inverse correlation between C/O and metallicity. The specific combination of low C/O and high metallicity suggests significant accretion of solid material may have occurred late in the formation process of HD 189733 b.

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Spectroastrometry and Imaging Science with Photonic Lanterns on Extremely Large Telescopes

Photonic lanterns (PLs) are tapered waveguides that gradually transition from a multi-mode fiber geometry to a bundle of single-mode fibers. In astronomical applications, PLs can efficiently couple multi-mode telescope light into a multi-mode fiber entrance and convert it into multiple single-mode beams. The output beams are highly stable and suitable for feeding into high-resolution spectrographs or photonic chip beam combiners. For instance, by using relative intensities in the output cores as a function of wavelength, PLs can enable spectroastrometry. In addition, by interfering beams in the output cores with a beam combiner in the backend, PLs can be used for high-throughput interferometric imaging. When used on an Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), with its increased sensitivity and angular resolution, the imaging and spectroastrometric capabilities of PLs will be extended to higher contrast and smaller angular scales. We study the potential spectroastrometry and imaging science cases of PLs on ELTs, including study of exomoons, broad-line regions of quasars, and inner circumstellar disks.

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A Uniform Analysis of Debris Disks with the Gemini Planet Imager I: An Empirical Search for Perturbations from Planetary Companions in Polarized Light Images

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) has excelled in imaging debris disks in the near-infrared. The GPI Exoplanet Survey (GPIES) imaged twenty-four debris disks in polarized $H$-band light, while other programs observed half of these disks in polarized $J$- and/or $K1$-bands. Using these data, we present a uniform analysis of the morphology of each disk to find asymmetries suggestive of perturbations, particularly those due to planet-disk interactions. The multi-wavelength surface brightness, the disk color and geometry permit identification of any asymmetries such as warps or disk offsets from the central star. We find that nineteen of the disks in this sample exhibit asymmetries in surface brightness, disk color, disk geometry, or a combination of the three, suggesting that for this sample, perturbations, as seen in scattered light, are common. The relationship between these perturbations and potential planets in the system are discussed. We also explore correlations among stellar temperatures, ages, disk properties, and observed perturbations. We find significant trends between the vertical aspect ratio and the stellar temperature, disk radial extent, and the dust grain size distribution power-law, $q$. We also confirm a trend between the disk color and stellar effective temperature, where the disk becomes increasingly red/neutral with increasing temperature. Such results have important implications on the evolution of debris disk systems around stars of various spectral types.

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Focal-plane wavefront sensing with photonic lanterns II: numerical characterization and optimization

We present numerical characterizations of the wavefront sensing performance for few-mode photonic lantern wavefront sensors (PLWFSs). These characterizations include calculations of throughput, control space, sensor linearity, and an estimate of maximum linear reconstruction range for standard and hybrid lanterns with 3 to 19 ports, at a wavelength of 1550 nm. We additionally consider the impact of beam-shaping optics and a charge-1 vortex mask, placed in the pupil plane. The former is motivated by the application of PLs to high-resolution spectroscopy, which could enable efficient injection into the spectrometer along with simultaneous focal-plane wavefront sensing; similarly, the latter is motivated by the application of PLs to vortex fiber nulling (VFN), which can simultaneously enable wavefront sensing and the nulling of on-axis starlight. Overall, we find that the PLWFS setups tested in this work exhibit good linearity out to ~0.25-0.5 radians of RMS wavefront error (WFE). Meanwhile, we estimate the maximum amount of WFE that can be handled by these sensors, before the sensor response becomes degenerate, to be around ~1-2 radians RMS. In the future, we expect these limits can be pushed further by increasing the number of degrees of freedom, either by adopting higher-mode-count lanterns, dispersing lantern outputs, or separating polarizations. Lastly, we consider optimization strategies for the design of the PLWFS, which involve both modification of the lantern itself and the use of pre- and post-lantern optics like phase masks and interferometric beam recombiners.

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The development of HISPEC for Keck and MODHIS for TMT: science cases and predicted sensitivities

HISPEC is a new, high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph being designed for the W.M. Keck II telescope. By offering single-shot, R=100,000 between 0.98 - 2.5 um, HISPEC will enable spectroscopy of transiting and non-transiting exoplanets in close orbits, direct high-contrast detection and spectroscopy of spatially separated substellar companions, and exoplanet dynamical mass and orbit measurements using precision radial velocity monitoring calibrated with a suite of state-of-the-art absolute and relative wavelength references. MODHIS is the counterpart to HISPEC for the Thirty Meter Telescope and is being developed in parallel with similar scientific goals. In this proceeding, we provide a brief overview of the current design of both instruments, and the requirements for the two spectrographs as guided by the scientific goals for each. We then outline the current science case for HISPEC and MODHIS, with focuses on the science enabled for exoplanet discovery and characterization. We also provide updated sensitivity curves for both instruments, in terms of both signal-to-noise ratio and predicted radial velocity precision.

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The path to detecting extraterrestrial life with astrophotonics

Astrophysical research into exoplanets has delivered thousands of confirmed planets orbiting distant stars. These planets span a wide ranges of size and composition, with diversity also being the hallmark of system configurations, the great majority of which do not resemble our own solar system. Unfortunately, only a handful of the known planets have been characterized spectroscopically thus far, leaving a gaping void in our understanding of planetary formation processes and planetary types. To make progress, astronomers studying exoplanets will need new and innovative technical solutions. Astrophotonics -- an emerging field focused on the application of photonic technologies to observational astronomy -- provides one promising avenue forward. In this paper we discuss various astrophotonic technologies that could aid in the detection and subsequent characterization of planets and in particular themes leading towards the detection of extraterrestrial life.

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Vortex Fiber Nulling for Exoplanet Observations: Implementation and First Light

Vortex fiber nulling (VFN) is a single-aperture interferometric technique for detecting and characterizing exoplanets separated from their host star by less than a diffracted beam width. VFN uses a vortex mask and single mode fiber to selectively reject starlight while coupling off-axis planet light with a simple optical design that can be readily implemented on existing direct imaging instruments that can feed light to an optical fiber. With its axially symmetric coupling region peaking within the inner working angle of conventional coronagraphs, VFN is more efficient at detecting new companions at small separations than conventional direct imaging, thereby increasing the yield of on-going exoplanet search campaigns. We deployed a VFN mode operating in K band ($2.0{-}2.5~μ$m) on the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) instrument at the Keck II Telescope. In this paper we present the instrument design of this first on-sky demonstration of VFN and the results from on-sky commissioning, including planet and star throughput measurements and predicted flux-ratio detection limits for close-in companions. The instrument performance is shown to be sufficient for detecting a companion $10^3$ times fainter than a $5^{\mathrm{th}}$ magnitude host star in 1 hour at a separation of 50 mas (1.1$λ/D$). This makes the instrument capable of efficiently detecting substellar companions around young stars. We also discuss several routes for improvement that will reduce the required integration time for a detection by a factor ${>}$3.

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ALMA and Keck analysis of Fomalhaut field sources: JWST's Great Dust Cloud is a background object

At 7.7 pc, the A-type star Fomalhaut hosts a bright debris disk with multiple radial components. The disk is eccentric and misaligned, strongly suggesting that it is sculpted by interaction with one or more planets. Compact sources are now being detected with JWST, suggesting that new planet detections may be imminent. However, to confirm such sources as companions, common proper motion with the star must be established, as with unprecedented sensitivity comes a high probability that planet candidates are actually background objects. Here, ALMA and Keck observations of Fomalhaut are found to show significant emission at the same sky location as multiple compact sources in JWST MIRI coronagraphic observations, one of which has been dubbed the "Great Dust Cloud" because it lies within the outer belt. Since the ground-based data were obtained between 6 to 18 years prior to the JWST observations, these compact sources are unlikely to be common proper motion companions to Fomalhaut. More generally, this work illustrates that images collected at a range of wavelengths can be valuable for rejecting planet candidates uncovered via direct imaging with JWST.

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Keck/KPIC Emission Spectroscopy of WASP-33b

We present Keck/KPIC high-resolution ($R\sim35,000$) $K$-band thermal emission spectroscopy of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-33b. The use of KPIC's single-mode fibers greatly improves both blaze and line-spread stabilities relative to slit spectrographs, enhancing the cross-correlation detection strength. We retrieve the dayside emission spectrum with a nested sampling pipeline which fits for orbital parameters, the atmospheric pressure-temperature profile, and molecular abundances.We strongly detect the thermally-inverted dayside and measure mass-mixing ratios for CO ($\log\rm CO_{MMR} = -1.1^{+0.4}_{-0.6}$), H$_2$O ($\log\rm H_2O_{MMR} = -4.1^{+0.7}_{-0.9}$) and OH ($\log\rm OH_{MMR} = -2.1^{+0.5}_{-1.1}$), suggesting near-complete dayside photodissociation of H$_2$O. The retrieved abundances suggest a carbon- and possibly metal-enriched atmosphere, with a gas-phase C/O ratio of $0.8^{+0.1}_{-0.2}$, consistent with the accretion of high-metallicity gas near the CO$_2$ snow line and post-disk migration or with accretion between the soot and H$_2$O snow lines. We also find tentative evidence for $\rm ^{12}CO/^{13}CO \sim 50$, consistent with values expected in protoplanetary disks, as well as tentative evidence for a metal-enriched atmosphere (2--15$\times$ solar). These observations demonstrate KPIC's ability to characterize close-in planets and the utility of KPIC's improved instrumental stability for cross-correlation techniques.

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Surveying Nearby Brown Dwarfs with HGCA: Direct Imaging Discovery of a Faint, High-Mass Brown Dwarf Orbiting HD 176535 A

Brown dwarfs with well-measured masses, ages and luminosities provide direct benchmark tests of substellar formation and evolutionary models. We report the first results from a direct imaging survey aiming to find and characterize substellar companions to nearby accelerating stars with the assistance of the Hipparcos-Gaia Catalog of Accelerations (HGCA). In this paper, we present a joint high-contrast imaging and astrometric discovery of a substellar companion to HD 176535 A, a K3.5V main-sequence star aged approximately $3.59_{-1.15}^{+0.87}$ Gyrs at a distance of $36.99 \pm 0.03$ pc. In advance of our high-contrast imaging observations, we combined precision HARPS RVs and HGCA astrometry to predict the potential companion's location and mass. We thereafter acquired two nights of KeckAO/NIRC2 direct imaging observations in the $L'$ band, which revealed a companion with a contrast of $ΔL'_p = 9.20\pm0.06$ mag at a projected separation of $\approx$0.$\!\!''35$ ($\approx$13 AU) from the host star. We revise our orbital fit by incorporating our dual-epoch relative astrometry using the open-source MCMC orbit fitting code $\tt orvara$. HD 176535 B is a new benchmark dwarf useful for constraining the evolutionary and atmospheric models of high-mass brown dwarfs. We found a luminosity of $\rm log(L_{bol}/L_{\odot}) = -5.26\pm0.07$ and a model-dependent effective temperature of $980 \pm 35$ K for HD 176535 B. Our dynamical mass suggests that some substellar evolutionary models may be underestimating luminosity for high-mass T dwarfs. Given its angular separation and luminosity, HD 176535 B would make a promising candidate for Aperture Masking Interferometry with JWST and GRAVITY/KPIC, and further spectroscopic characterization with instruments like the CHARIS/SCExAO/Subaru integral field spectrograph.

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The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems I: High Contrast Imaging of the Exoplanet HIP 65426 b from 2-16 $μ$m

We present JWST Early Release Science (ERS) coronagraphic observations of the super-Jupiter exoplanet, HIP 65426 b, with the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) from 2-5 $μ$m, and with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) from 11-16 $μ$m. At a separation of $\sim$0.82" (86$^{+116}_{-31}$ au), HIP 65426 b is clearly detected in all seven of our observational filters, representing the first images of an exoplanet to be obtained by JWST, and the first ever direct detection of an exoplanet beyond 5 $μ$m. These observations demonstrate that JWST is exceeding its nominal predicted performance by up to a factor of 10, depending on separation and subtraction method, with measured 5$σ$ contrast limits of $\sim$1$\times10^{-5}$ and $\sim$2$\times10^{-4}$ at 1" for NIRCam at 4.4 $μ$m and MIRI at 11.3 $μ$m, respectively. These contrast limits provide sensitivity to sub-Jupiter companions with masses as low as 0.3$M_\mathrm{Jup}$ beyond separations of $\sim$100 au. Together with existing ground-based near-infrared data, the JWST photometry are well fit by a BT-SETTL atmospheric model from 1-16 $μ$m, and span $\sim$97% of HIP 65426 b's luminous range. Independent of the choice of model atmosphere we measure an empirical bolometric luminosity that is tightly constrained between $\mathrm{log}\!\left(L_\mathrm{bol}/L_{\odot}\right)$=-4.31 to $-$4.14, which in turn provides a robust mass constraint of 7.1$\pm$1.2 $M_\mathrm{Jup}$. In totality, these observations confirm that JWST presents a powerful and exciting opportunity to characterise the population of exoplanets amenable to high-contrast imaging in greater detail.

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Testing the Interaction Between a Substellar Companion and a Debris Disk in the HR 2562 System

The HR 2562 system is a rare case where a brown dwarf companion resides in a cleared inner hole of a debris disk, offering invaluable opportunities to study the dynamical interaction between a substellar companion and a dusty disk. We present the first ALMA observation of the system as well as the continued GPI monitoring of the companion's orbit with 6 new epochs from 2016 to 2018. We update the orbital fit and, in combination with absolute astrometry from GAIA, place a 3$σ$ upper limit of 18.5 $M_J$ on the companion's mass. To interpret the ALMA observations, we used radiative transfer modeling to determine the disk properties. We find that the disk is well resolved and nearly edge on. While the misalignment angle between the disk and the orbit is weakly constrained due to the short orbital arc available, the data strongly support a (near) coplanar geometry for the system. Furthermore, we find that the models that describe the ALMA data best have an inner radius that is close to the companion's semi-major axis. Including a posteriori knowledge of the system's SED further narrows the constraints on the disk's inner radius and place it at a location that is in reasonable agreement with, possibly interior to, predictions from existing dynamical models of disk truncation by an interior substellar companion. HR\,2562 has the potential over the next few years to become a new testbed for dynamical interaction between a debris disk and a substellar companion.

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Detecting exomoons from radial velocity measurements of self-luminous planets: application to observations of HR 7672 B and future prospects

The detection of satellites around extrasolar planets, so called exomoons, remains a largely unexplored territory. In this work, we study the potential of detecting these elusive objects from radial velocity monitoring of self-luminous directly imaged planets. This technique is now possible thanks to the development of dedicated instruments combining the power of high-resolution spectroscopy and high-contrast imaging. First, we demonstrate a sensitivity to satellites with a mass ratio of 1-4% at separations similar to the Galilean moons from observations of a brown-dwarf companion (HR 7672 B; Kmag=13; 0.7" separation) with the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC; R~35,000 in K band) at the W. M. Keck Observatory. Current instrumentation is therefore already sensitive to large unresolved satellites that could be forming from gravitational instability akin to binary star formation. Using end-to-end simulations, we then estimate that future instruments such as MODHIS, planned for the Thirty Meter Telescope, should be sensitive to satellites with mass ratios of ~1e-4. Such small moons would likely form in a circumplanetary disk similar to the Jovian satellites in the solar system. Looking for the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect could also be an interesting pathway to detecting the smallest moons on short orbital periods. Future exomoon discoveries will allow precise mass measurements of the substellar companions that they orbit and provide key insight into the formation of exoplanets. They would also help constrain the population of habitable Earth-sized moons orbiting gas giants in the habitable zone of their stars.

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Speckle Space-Time Covariance in High-Contrast Imaging

We introduce a new framework for point-spread function (PSF) subtraction based on the spatio-temporal variation of speckle noise in high-contrast imaging data where the sampling timescale is faster than the speckle evolution timescale. One way that space-time covariance arises in the pupil is as atmospheric layers translate across the telescope aperture and create small, time-varying perturbations in the phase of the incoming wavefront. The propagation of this field to the focal plane preserves some of that space-time covariance. To utilize this covariance, our new approach uses a Karhunen-Loéve transform on an image sequence, as opposed to a set of single reference images as in previous applications of Karhunen-Loéve Image Processing (KLIP) for high-contrast imaging. With the recent development of photon-counting detectors, such as microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs), this technique now has the potential to improve contrast when used as a post-processing step. Preliminary testing on simulated data shows this technique can improve contrast by at least 10-20% from the original image, with significant potential for further improvement. For certain choices of parameters, this algorithm may provide larger contrast gains than spatial-only KLIP.

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Phase II of the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer: system-level laboratory characterization and preliminary on-sky commissioning

The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) is a series of upgrades for the Keck II Adaptive Optics (AO) system and the NIRSPEC spectrograph to enable diffraction-limited, high-resolution ($R>30,000$) spectroscopy of exoplanets and low-mass companions in the K and L bands. Phase I consisted of single-mode fiber injection/extraction units (FIU/FEU) used in conjunction with an H-band pyramid wavefront sensor. Phase II, deployed and commissioned in 2022, adds a 1000-actuator deformable mirror, beam-shaping optics, a vortex coronagraph, and other upgrades to the FIU/FEU. The use of single-mode fibers provides a gain in stellar rejection, a substantial reduction in sky background, and an extremely stable line-spread function on the spectrograph. In this paper we present the results of extensive system-level laboratory testing and characterization showing the instrument's Phase II throughput, stability, repeatability, and other key performance metrics prior to delivery and during installation at Keck. We also demonstrate the capabilities of the various observing modes enabled by the new system modules using internal test light sources. Finally, we show preliminary results of on-sky tests performed in the first few months of Phase II commissioning along with the next steps for the instrument. Once commissioning of Phase II is complete, KPIC will continue to characterize exoplanets at an unprecedented spectral resolution, thereby growing its already successful track record of 23 detected exoplanets and brown dwarfs from Phase I. Using the new vortex fiber nulling (VFN) mode, Phase II will also be able to search for exoplanets at small angular separations less than 45 milliarcseconds which conventional coronagraphs cannot reach.

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Retrieving C and O Abundance of HR 8799 c by Combining High- and Low-Resolution Data

The formation and evolution pathway for the directly-imaged multi-planetary system HR 8799 remains mysterious. Accurate constraints on the chemical composition of the planetary atmosphere(s) are key to solving the mystery. We perform a detailed atmospheric retrieval on HR 8799~c to infer the chemical abundances and abundance ratios using a combination of photometric data along with low- and high-resolution spectroscopic data (R$\sim$20-35,000). We specifically retrieve [C/H], [O/H], and C/O and find them to be 0.55$^{+0.36}_{-0.39}$, 0.47$^{+0.31}_{-0.32}$, and 0.67$^{+0.12}_{-0.15}$ at 68\% confidence. The super-stellar C and O abundances, yet a stellar C/O ratio, reveal a potential formation pathway for HR 8799~c. Planet c, and likely the other gas giant planets in the system, formed early on (likely within $\sim$1 Myr), followed by further atmospheric enrichment in C and O through the accretion of solids beyond the CO iceline. The enrichment either preceded or took place during the early phase of the inward migration to the planet current locations.

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AIROPA II: Modeling Instrumental Aberrations for Off-Axis Point Spread Functions in Adaptive Optics

Images obtained with single-conjugate adaptive optics (AO) show spatial variation of the point spread function (PSF) due to both atmospheric anisoplanatism and instrumental aberrations. The poor knowledge of the PSF across the field of view strongly impacts the ability to take full advantage of AO capabilities. The AIROPA project aims to model these PSF variations for the NIRC2 imager at the Keck Observatory. Here, we present the characterization of the instrumental phase aberrations over the entire NIRC2 field of view and we present a new metric for quantifying the quality of the calibration, the fraction of variance unexplained (FVU). We used phase diversity measurements obtained on an artificial light source to characterize the variation of the aberrations across the field of view and their evolution with time. We find that there is a daily variation of the wavefront error (RMS of the residuals is 94~nm) common to the whole detector, but the differential aberrations across the field of view are very stable (RMS of the residuals between different epochs is 59~nm). This means that instrumental calibrations need to be monitored often only at the center of the detector, and the much more time-consuming variations across the field of view can be characterized less frequently (most likely when hardware upgrades happen). Furthermore, we tested AIROPA's instrumental model through real data of the fiber images on the detector. We find that modeling the PSF variations across the field of view improves the FVU metric by 60\% and reduces the detection of fake sources by 70\%.

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