arXiv subjects

Peter Wizinowich

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Wizinowich.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

A Clear View of a Cloudy Brown Dwarf Companion from High-Resolution Spectroscopy

Direct imaging studies have mainly used low-resolution spectroscopy ($R\sim20-100$) to study the atmospheres of giant exoplanets and brown dwarf companions, but the presence of clouds has often led to degeneracies in the retrieved atmospheric abundances (e.g. C/O, metallicity). This precludes clear insights into the formation mechanisms of these companions. The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) uses adaptive optics and single-mode fibers to transport light into NIRSPEC ($R\sim35,000$ in $K$ band), and aims to address these challenges with high-resolution spectroscopy. Using an atmospheric retrieval framework based on petitRADTRANS, we analyze KPIC high-resolution spectrum ($2.29-2.49~μ$m) and archival low-resolution spectrum ($1-2.2~μ$m) of the benchmark brown dwarf HD 4747 B ($m=67.2\pm1.8~M_{\rm{Jup}}$, $a=10.0\pm0.2$ au, $T_{\rm eff}\approx1400$ K). We find that our measured C/O and metallicity for the companion from the KPIC high-resolution spectrum agree with that of its host star within $1-2σ$. The retrieved parameters from the $K$ band high-resolution spectrum are also independent of our choice of cloud model. In contrast, the retrieved parameters from the low-resolution spectrum are highly sensitive to our chosen cloud model. Finally, we detect CO, H$_2$O, and CH$_4$ (volume mixing ratio of log(CH$_4$)=$-4.82\pm0.23$) in this L/T transition companion with the KPIC data. The relative molecular abundances allow us to constrain the degree of chemical disequilibrium in the atmosphere of HD 4747 B, and infer a vertical diffusion coefficient that is at the upper limit predicted from mixing length theory.

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arXiv2022

Daytime calibration and testing of the Keck All sky Precision Adaptive Optics Tomography System

The development of the Keck All sky Precision Adaptive optics (KAPA) project was initiated in September 2018 to upgrade the Keck I adaptive optics (AO) system to enable laser tomography adaptive optics (LTAO) with a four laser guide star (LGS) asterism. The project includes the replacement of the existing LMCT laser with a Toptica laser, the implementation of a new real-time controller (RTC) and wavefront sensor optics and camera, and a new daytime calibration and test platform to provide the required infrastructure for laser tomography. The work presented here describes the new daytime calibration infrastructure to test the performance for the KAPA tomographic algorithms. This paper outlines the hardware infrastructure for daytime calibration and performance assessment of tomographic algorithms. This includes the implementation of an asterism simulator having fiber-coupled light sources simulating four Laser Guide Stars (LGS) and two Natural Guide Stars (NGS) at the AO bench focus, as well as the upgrade of the existing TelSim on the AO bench to simulate focal anisoplanatism and wind driven atmospheric turbulence. A phase screen, that can be adjusted in effective altitude, is used to simulate wind speeds up to 10 m/s for a duration of upto 3 s.

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arXiv2022

Predictive wavefront control on Keck II adaptive optics bench: on-sky coronagraphic results

The behavior of an adaptive optics (AO) system for ground-based high contrast imaging (HCI) dictates the achievable contrast of the instrument. In conditions where the coherence time of the atmosphere is short compared to the speed of the AO system, the servo-lag error can become the dominant error term of the AO system. While the AO system measures the wavefront error and subsequently applies a correction (typically taking a total of one or a few milliseconds), the atmospheric turbulence above the telescope has changed resulting in the servo-lag error. In addition to reducing the Strehl ratio, the servo-lag error causes a build-up of speckles along the direction of the dominant wind vector in the coronagraphic image, severely limiting the contrast at small angular separations. One strategy to mitigate this problem is to predict the evolution of the turbulence over the delay time. Our predictive wavefront control algorithm minimizes, in a mean square sense, the wavefront error over the delay and has been implemented on the Keck II AO bench. In this paper, we report on the latest results of our algorithm and discuss updates to the algorithm itself. We explore how to tune various filter parameters based on both daytime laboratory tests and on-sky tests. We show a reduction in the residual-mean-square wavefront error for the predictor compared to the leaky integrator (the standard controller for Keck) implemented on Keck for three separate nights. Finally, we present contrast improvements for daytime and on-sky tests for the first time. Using the L-band vortex coronagraph for Keck's NIRC2 instrument, we find a contrast gain of up to 2 at a separation of 3 lambda/D and up to 3 for larger separations (3-7 lambda/D).

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arXiv2022

Retrieving the C and O Abundances of HR 7672~AB: a Solar-Type Primary Star with a Benchmark Brown Dwarf

A benchmark brown dwarf (BD) is a BD whose properties (e.g., mass and chemical composition) are precisely and independently measured. Benchmark BDs are valuable in testing theoretical evolutionary tracks, spectral synthesis, and atmospheric retrievals for sub-stellar objects. Here, we report results of atmospheric retrieval on a synthetic spectrum and a benchmark BD -- HR 7672~B -- with \petit. First, we test the retrieval framework on a synthetic PHOENIX BT-Settl spectrum with a solar composition. We show that the retrieved C and O abundances are consistent with solar values, but the retrieved C/O is overestimated by 0.13-0.18, which is $\sim$4 times higher than the formal error bar. Second, we perform retrieval on HR 7672~B using high spectral resolution data (R=35,000) from the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) and near infrared photometry. We retrieve [C/H], [O/H], and C/O to be $-0.24\pm0.05$, $-0.19\pm0.04$, and $0.52\pm0.02$. These values are consistent with those of HR 7672~A within 1.5-$σ$. As such, HR 7672~B is among only a few benchmark BDs (along with Gl 570~D and HD 3651~B) that have been demonstrated to have consistent elemental abundances with their primary stars. Our work provides a practical procedure of testing and performing atmospheric retrieval, and sheds light on potential systematics of future retrievals using high- and low-resolution data.

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arXiv2021

Developing Adaptive Secondary Mirror Concepts for the APF and W.M. Keck Observatory Based on HVR Technology

An Adaptive secondary mirror (ASM) allows for the integration of adaptive optics (AO) into the telescope itself. Adaptive secondary mirrors, based on hybrid variable reluctance (HVR) actuator technology, developed by TNO, provide a promising path to telescope-integrated AO. HVR actuators have the advantage of allowing mirrors that are stiffer, more power efficient, and potentially less complex than similar, voice-coil based ASM's. We are exploring the application of this technology via a laboratory testbed that will validate the technical approach. In parallel, we are developing conceptual designs for ASMs at several telescopes including the Automated Planet Finder Telescope (APF) and for Keck Observatory. An ASM for APF has the potential to double the light through the slit for radial velocity measurements, and dramatically improved the image stability. An ASM for WMKO enables ground layer AO correction and lower background infrared AO observations, and provides for more flexible deployment of instruments via the ability to adjust the location of the Cassegrain focus.

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arXiv2021

Status of predictive wavefront control on Keck II adaptive optics bench: on-sky coronagraphic results

The behavior of an adaptive optics (AO) system for ground-based high contrast imaging (HCI) dictates the achievable contrast of the instrument. In conditions where the coherence time of the atmosphere is short compared to the speed of the AO system, the servo-lag error becomes the dominate error term of the AO system. While the AO system measures the wavefront error and subsequently applies a correction (taking a total of 1 to 2 milli-seconds), the atmospheric turbulence above the telescope has changed. In addition to reducing the Strehl ratio, the servo-lag error causes a build-up of speckles along the direction of the dominant wind vector in the coronagraphic image, severely limiting the contrast at small angular separations. One strategy to mitigate this problem is to predict the evolution of the turbulence over the delay. Our predictive wavefront control algorithm minimizes the delay in a mean square sense and has been implemented on the Keck II AO bench. In this paper we report on the latest results of our algorithm and discuss updates to the algorithm itself. We explore how to tune various filter parameters on the basis of both daytime laboratory tests and on-sky tests. We show a reduction in residual-mean-square wavefront error for the predictor compare to the leaky integrator implemented on Keck. Finally, we present contrast improvements for both day time and on-sky tests. Using the L-band vortex coronagraph for Keck's NIRC2 instrument, we find a contrast gain of 2.03 at separation of 3~$λ/D$ and up to 3 for larger separations (4-6~$λ/D$).

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arXiv2021

The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer: A dedicated single-mode fiber injection unit for high resolution exoplanet spectroscopy

The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) is a purpose-built instrument to demonstrate new technological and instrumental concepts initially developed for the exoplanet direct imaging field. Located downstream of the current Keck II adaptive optic system, KPIC contains a fiber injection unit (FIU) capable of combining the high-contrast imaging capability of the adaptive optics system with the high dispersion spectroscopy capability of the current Keck high resolution infrared spectrograph (NIRSPEC). Deployed at Keck in September 2018, this instrument has already been used to acquire high resolution spectra ($R > 30,000$) of multiple targets of interest. In the near term, it will be used to spectrally characterize known directly imaged exoplanets and low-mass brown dwarf companions visible in the northern hemisphere with a spectral resolution high enough to enable spin and planetary radial velocity measurements as well as Doppler imaging of atmospheric weather phenomena. Here we present the design of the FIU, the unique calibration procedures needed to operate a single-mode fiber instrument and the system performance.

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arXiv2021

Detection and Bulk Properties of the HR 8799 Planets with High Resolution Spectroscopy

Using the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC), we obtained high-resolution (R$\sim$35,000) $K$-band spectra of the four planets orbiting HR 8799. We clearly detected \water{} and CO in the atmospheres of HR 8799 c, d, and e, and tentatively detected a combination of CO and \water{} in b. These are the most challenging directly imaged exoplanets that have been observed at high spectral resolution to date when considering both their angular separations and flux ratios. We developed a forward modeling framework that allows us to jointly fit the spectra of the planets and the diffracted starlight simultaneously in a likelihood-based approach and obtained posterior probabilities on their effective temperatures, surface gravities, radial velocities, and spins. We measured $v\sin(i)$ values of $10.1^{+2.8}_{-2.7}$~km/s for HR 8799 d and $15.0^{+2.3}_{-2.6}$~km/s for HR 8799 e, and placed an upper limit of $< 14$~km/s of HR 8799 c. Under two different assumptions of their obliquities, we found tentative evidence that rotation velocity is anti-correlated with companion mass, which could indicate that magnetic braking with a circumplanetary disk at early times is less efficient at spinning down lower mass planets.

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arXiv2021

Entering into the Wide Field Adaptive Optics Era on Maunakea

As part of the National Science Foundation funded "Gemini in the Era of MultiMessenger Astronomy" (GEMMA) program, Gemini Observatory is developing GNAO, a widefield adaptive optics (AO) facility for Gemini-North on Maunakea, the only 8m-class open-access telescope available to the US astronomers in the northern hemisphere. GNAO will provide the user community with a queue-operated Multi-Conjugate AO (MCAO) system, enabling a wide range of innovative solar system, Galactic, and extragalactic science with a particular focus on synergies with JWST in the area of time-domain astronomy. The GNAO effort builds on institutional investment and experience with the more limited block-scheduled Gemini Multi-Conjugate System (GeMS), commissioned at Gemini South in 2013. The project involves close partnerships with the community through the recently established Gemini AO Working Group and the GNAO Science Team, as well as external instrument teams. The modular design of GNAO will enable a planned upgrade to a Ground Layer AO (GLAO) mode when combined with an Adaptive Secondary Mirror (ASM). By enhancing the natural seeing by an expected factor of two, GLAO will vastly improve Gemini North's observing efficiency for seeing-limited instruments and strengthen its survey capabilities for multi-messenger astronomy.

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arXiv2020

Early High-contrast Imaging Results with Keck/NIRC2-PWFS: The SR 21 Disk

High-contrast imaging of exoplanets and protoplanetary disks depends on wavefront sensing and correction made by adaptive optics instruments. Classically, wavefront sensing has been conducted at optical wavelengths, which made high-contrast imaging of red targets such as M-type stars or extincted T Tauri stars challenging. Keck/NIRC2 has combined near-infrared (NIR) detector technology with the pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS). With this new module we observed SR~21, a young star that is brighter at NIR wavelengths than at optical wavelengths. Compared with the archival data of SR~21 taken with the optical wavefront sensing we achieved $\sim$20\% better Strehl ratio in similar natural seeing conditions. Further post-processing utilizing angular differential imaging and reference-star differential imaging confirmed the spiral feature reported by the VLT/SPHERE polarimetric observation, which is the first detection of the SR~21 spiral in total intensity at $L^\prime$ band. We also compared the contrast limit of our result ($10^{-4}$ at $0\farcs4$ and $2\times10^{-5}$ at $1\farcs0$) with the archival data that were taken with optical wavefront sensing and confirmed the improvement, particularly at $\leq0\farcs5$. Our observation demonstrates that the NIR PWFS improves AO performance and will provide more opportunities for red targets in the future.

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arXiv2020

Keck/NIRC2 $L$'-Band Imaging of Jovian-Mass Accreting Protoplanets around PDS 70

We present $L$'-band imaging of the PDS 70 planetary system with Keck/NIRC2 using the new infrared pyramid wavefront sensor. We detected both PDS 70 b and c in our images, as well as the front rim of the circumstellar disk. After subtracting off a model of the disk, we measured the astrometry and photometry of both planets. Placing priors based on the dynamics of the system, we estimated PDS 70 b to have a semi-major axis of $20^{+3}_{-4}$~au and PDS 70 c to have a semi-major axis of $34^{+12}_{-6}$~au (95\% credible interval). We fit the spectral energy distribution (SED) of both planets. For PDS 70 b, we were able to place better constraints on the red half of its SED than previous studies and inferred the radius of the photosphere to be 2-3~$R_{Jup}$. The SED of PDS 70 c is less well constrained, with a range of total luminosities spanning an order of magnitude. With our inferred radii and luminosities, we used evolutionary models of accreting protoplanets to derive a mass of PDS 70 b between 2 and 4 $M_{\textrm{Jup}}$ and a mean mass accretion rate between $3 \times 10^{-7}$ and $8 \times 10^{-7}~M_{\textrm{Jup}}/\textrm{yr}$. For PDS 70 c, we computed a mass between 1 and 3 $M_{\textrm{Jup}}$ and mean mass accretion rate between $1 \times 10^{-7}$ and $5 \times~10^{-7} M_{\textrm{Jup}}/\textrm{yr}$. The mass accretion rates imply dust accretion timescales short enough to hide strong molecular absorption features in both planets' SEDs.

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arXiv2019

Status of the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer Phase II Development

The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer comprises of a series of upgrades to the Keck II adaptive optics system and instrument suite to improve the direct imaging and high resolution spectroscopy capabilities of the facility instruments NIRC2 and NIRSPEC, respectively. Phase I of KPIC includes a NIR pyramid wavefront sensor and a Fiber Injection Unit (FIU) to feed NIRSPEC with a single mode fiber, which have already been installed and are currently undergoing commissioning. KPIC will enable High Dispersion Coronagraphy (HDC) of directly imaged exoplanets for the first time, providing potentially improved detection significance and spectral characterization capabilities compared to direct imaging. In favorable cases, Doppler imaging, spin measurements, and molecule mapping are also possible. This science goal drives the development of phase II of KPIC, which is scheduled to be deployed in early 2020. Phase II optimizes the system throughput and contrast using a variety of additional submodules, including a 952 element deformable mirror, phase induced amplitude apodization lenses, an atmospheric dispersion compensator, multiple coronagraphs, a Zernike wavefront sensor, and multiple science ports. A testbed is being built in the Exoplanet Technology Lab at Caltech to characterize and test the design of each of these submodules before KPIC phase II is deployed to Keck. This paper presents an overview of the design of phase II and report on results from laboratory testing.

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arXiv2019

Demonstrating predictive wavefront control with the Keck II near-infrared pyramid wavefront sensor

The success of ground-based instruments for high contrast exoplanet imaging depends on the degree to which adaptive optics (AO) systems can mitigate atmospheric turbulence. While modern AO systems typically suffer from millisecond time lags between wavefront measurement and control, predictive wavefront control (pWFC) is a means of compensating for those time lags using previous wavefront measurements, thereby improving the raw contrast in the post-coronagraphic science focal plane. A method of predictive control based on Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) has previously been proposed and demonstrated on Subaru/SCExAO. In this paper we present initial tests of this method for application to the near-infrared pyramid wavefront sensor (PYWFS) recently installed in the Keck II AO system. We demonstrate the expected root-mean-square wavefront error and contrast benefits of pWFC based on simulations, applying pWFC to on-sky telemetry data saved during commissioning of the PYWFS. We discuss how the performance varies as different temporal and spatial scales are included in the computation of the predictive filter. We further describe the implementation of EOF pWFC within the PYWFS dedicated real-time controller, and, via daytime testing at the observatory, we demonstrate the performance of pWFC in real time when pre-computed phase screens are applied to the deformable mirror.

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arXiv2019

WISE J072003.20-084651.2B Is A Massive T Dwarf

We present individual dynamical masses for the nearby M9.5+T5.5 binary WISE J072003.20$-$084651.2AB, a.k.a. Scholz's star. Combining high-precision CFHT/WIRCam photocenter astrometry and Keck adaptive optics resolved imaging, we measure the first high-quality parallactic distance ($6.80_{-0.06}^{+0.05}$ pc) and orbit ($8.06_{-0.25}^{+0.24}$ yr period) for this system composed of a low-mass star and brown dwarf. We find a moderately eccentric orbit ($e = 0.240_{-0.010}^{+0.009}$), incompatible with previous work based on less data, and dynamical masses of $99\pm6$ $M_{\rm Jup}$ and $66\pm4$ $M_{\rm Jup}$ for the two components. The primary mass is marginally inconsistent (2.1$σ$) with the empirical mass$-$magnitude$-$metallicity relation and models of main-sequence stars. The relatively high mass of the cold ($T_{\rm eff} = 1250\pm40$ K) brown dwarf companion indicates an age older than a few Gyr, in accord with age estimates for the primary star, and is consistent with our recent estimate of $\approx$70 $M_{\rm Jup}$ for the stellar/substellar boundary among the field population. Our improved parallax and proper motion, as well as an orbit-corrected system velocity, improve the accuracy of the system's close encounter with the solar system by an order of magnitude. WISE J0720$-$0846AB passed within $68.7\pm2.0$ kAU of the Sun $80.5\pm0.7$ kyr ago, passing through the outer Oort cloud where comets can have stable orbits.

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arXiv2019

Relativistic redshift of the star S0-2 orbiting the Galactic center supermassive black hole

General Relativity predicts that a star passing close to a supermassive black hole should exhibit a relativistic redshift. We test this using observations of the Galactic center star S0-2. We combine existing spectroscopic and astrometric measurements from 1995-2017, which cover S0-2's 16-year orbit, with measurements in 2018 March to September which cover three events during its closest approach to the black hole. We detect the combination of special relativistic- and gravitational-redshift, quantified using a redshift parameter, $Υ$. Our result, $Υ=0.88 \pm 0.17$, is consistent with General Relativity ($Υ=1$) and excludes a Newtonian model ($Υ=0$ ) with a statistical significance of 5 $σ$.

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arXiv2017

Modelling astronomical adaptive optics performance with temporally-filtered Wiener reconstruction of slope data

We build on a long-standing tradition in astronomical adaptive optics (AO) of specifying performance metrics and error budgets using linear systems modeling in the spatial-frequency domain. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive tool for the calculation of error budgets in terms of residual temporally filtered phase power spectral densities and variances. In addition, the fast simulation of AO-corrected point spread functions (PSFs) provided by this method can be used as inputs for simulations of science observations with next-generation instruments and telescopes, in particular to predict post-coronagraphic contrast improvements for planet finder systems. We extend the previous results and propose the synthesis of a distributed Kalman filter to mitigate both aniso-servo-lag and aliasing errors whilst minimizing the overall residual variance. We discuss applications to (i) analytic AO-corrected PSF modeling in the spatial-frequency domain, (ii) post-coronagraphic contrast enhancement, (iii) filter optimization for real-time wavefront reconstruction, and (iv) PSF reconstruction from system telemetry. Under perfect knowledge of wind velocities, we show that $\sim$60 nm rms error reduction can be achieved with the distributed Kalman filter embodying anti- aliasing reconstructors on 10 m class high-order AO systems, leading to contrast improvement factors of up to three orders of magnitude at few $λ/D$ separations ($\sim1-5λ/D$) for a 0 magnitude star and reaching close to one order of magnitude for a 12 magnitude star.

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arXiv2017

Quantifying telescope phase discontinuities external to AO-systems by use of Phase Diversity and Focal Plane Sharpening

We propose and apply two methods to estimate pupil plane phase discontinuities for two realistic scenarios on VLT and Keck. The methods use both Phase Diversity and a form of image sharpening. For the case of VLT, we simulate the `low wind effect' (LWE) which is responsible for focal plane errors in the SPHERE system in low wind and good seeing conditions. We successfully estimate the simulated LWE using both methods, and show that they are complimentary to one another. We also demonstrate that single image Phase Diversity (also known as Phase Retrieval with diversity) is also capable of estimating the simulated LWE when using the natural de-focus on the SPHERE/DTTS imager. We demonstrate that Phase Diversity can estimate the LWE to within 30 nm RMS WFE, which is within the allowable tolerances to achieve a target SPHERE contrast of 10$^{-6}$. Finally, we simulate 153 nm RMS of piston errors on the mirror segments of Keck and produce NIRC2 images subject to these effects. We show that a single, diverse image with 1.5 waves (PV) of focus can be used to estimate this error to within 29 nm RMS WFE, and a perfect correction of our estimation would increase the Strehl ratio of a NIRC2 image by 12\%

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arXiv2016

The W. M. Keck Observatory infrared vortex coronagraph and a first image of HIP79124 B

An optical vortex coronagraph has been implemented within the NIRC2 camera on the Keck II telescope and used to carry out on-sky tests and observations. The development of this new L'-band observational mode is described, and an initial demonstration of the new capability is presented: a resolved image of the low-mass companion to HIP79124, which had previously been detected by means of interferometry. With HIP79124 B at a projected separation of 186.5 mas, both the small inner working angle of the vortex coronagraph and the related imaging improvements were crucial in imaging this close companion directly. Due to higher Strehl ratios and more relaxed contrasts in L' band versus H band, this new coronagraphic capability will enable high-contrast small-angle observations of nearby young exoplanets and disks on a par with those of shorter-wavelength extreme adaptive optics coronagraphs.

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