Reflected light imaging of exoplanets - 5 years of development with MagAO-X (Sebastiaan Haffert, UA)

Origins Seminar presented April 29, 2024
Abstract: The imminent era of the Extremely Large Telescopes, like the 25-meter Giant Magellan Telescope, will offer unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution, enabling new discoveries in all areas of astronomy and astrophysics. Among its top priorities is the discovery and characterization of Earth-like planets that could have climates like ours and where life could form and evolve - potentially answering one of the oldest questions of humankind; are we alone? However, direct detection, and characterization, of older exoplanets is challenging due to the contrast ratio that must be overcome. Realizing such a grand goal will only be possible if we invent and implement new technologies to fulfill the ultimate potential of the ELTs. I will present the new instruments and techniques that push us forward towards the grand goal of detecting extrasolar life that I developed during my past 5 years at Steward Observatory. These new techniques have been tested with the Magellan Adaptive Optics eXtreme (MagAO-X) system, a high-contrast imaging system for the 6.5m Magellan Telescope. We use MagAO-X as a pathfinder for GMT and every improvement we make along the way allows us to do novel and improved astronomical observations.