Adaptive optics will almost completely remove the effects of atmospheric turbulence at 10 microns on the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) generation of telescopes. In this paper, we observationally confirm that the next most important limitation to image quality is atmospheric dispersion, rather than telescope diffraction. By using the 6.5 meter MMT with its unique mid-IR adaptive optics system, we measure atmospheric dispersion in the N-band with the newly commissioned spectroscopic mode on MIRAC4-BLINC. Our results indicate that atmospheric dispersion is generally linear in the N-band, although there is some residual curvature. We compare our measurements to theory, and make predictions for ELT Strehls and image FHWM with and without an atmospheric dispersion corrector (ADC). We find that for many mid-IR applications, an ADC will be necessary on ELTs.
Direct detection and detailed characterization of exoplanets using extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) is a key science goal of future extremely large telescopes (ELTs). However, wavefront errors will limit the sensitivity of this endeavor. Limitations for ground-based telescopes arise from both quasi-static and residual AO-corrected atmospheric wavefront errors, the latter of which generates short-lived aberrations that will average into a halo over a long exposure. We have developed and tested the framework for a solution to both of these problems using the self-coherent camera (SCC), to be appli…
Giant planets within the habitable zones of the closest several stars can currently be imaged with ground-based telescopes. Within the next decade, the Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) will begin to image the habitable zones of a greater number of nearby stars with much higher sensitivity$-$ potentially imaging exo-Earths around the closest stars. To determine the most promising candidates for observations over the next decade, we establish a theoretical framework for the direct detectability of Earth$-$ to super-Jovian-mass exoplanets in the mid-infrared based on available atmospheric and ev…
High-Resolution Altitude Profiles of the Atmospheric Turbulence with PML at the Sutherland Observatory
随着下一代地基望远镜的发展，对超大型望远镜的需求越来越大，对自适应光学系统的要求也越来越高。这是为了补偿由大气湍流引起的图像失真，并充分利用直径为30至40米的镜子。这就需要对湍流进行更精确的描述。PML（Profiler of Moon Limb）就是在这种背景下开发的。PML的目的是提供高分辨率的高度分布的湍流使用差分测量的月球边缘位置计算的横向空间角协方差的到达角波动。不同分离角的差分像移协方差对视宁度的高度分布敏感。使用连续的月球边缘提供了大量的分离角，从而可以获得高分辨率的剖面高度。该方法是提出和测试与模拟数据。此外，2011年8月在南非萨瑟兰天文台部署了一台PML仪器。我们在此介绍这一测量活动的结果。
The image quality of the new generation of earthbound Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) is heavily influenced by atmospheric turbulences. To compensate these optical distortions a technique called adaptive optics (AO) is used. Many AO systems require the reconstruction of the refractive index fluctuations in the atmosphere, called atmospheric tomography. The standard way of solving this problem is the Matrix Vector Multiplication, i.e., the direct application of a (regularized) generalized inverse of the system operator. However, over the last years the telescope sizes have increased significa…
Quantified Estimation of Molecular Detections across Different Classes of Neptunian Atmospheres Using Cross-Correlation Spectroscopy: Prospects for Future Extremely Large Telescopes with High-Resolution Spectrographs
The prevalence of bacteria in the atmosphere has been well established in relevant literature, suggesting that airborne bacteria can influence atmospheric characteristics including the development of clouds. Studies have also demonstrated that the atmospheric biological profile is influenced by the underlying terrestrial biomes. An understanding of the complex interplay of factors that can influence the atmospheric biological profile, not to mention developing a biological census of the atmosphere, requires a cost-effective experimental system capable of generating reproducible results with re…
An Approach to Gamma-Hadron Separation via Measurements of the Middle-UV Fraction of EAS emission by an Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope with UV-Sensitive SiPM detectors
Mid-IR Water-Vapor Seeing: Implications for ELT/METIS High-Contrast Imaging from VLTI Data
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur（坎普尔印度理工学院）；Université de Liège（列日大学）；Australian National University（澳大利亚国立大学）；European Southern Observatory（欧洲南方天文台）；Université Côte d’Azur（蔚蓝海岸大学）；Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie（马克斯·普朗克天文学研究所）；Leiden University（莱顿大学）；Macquarie University（麦考瑞大学）
Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE): IX. Assessing the Impact of Clouds on Atmospheric Retrievals at Mid-Infrared Wavelengths with a Venus-Twin Exoplanet
This White Paper presents a mission concept called MIRECLE - the Mid-InfraRed Exoplanet CLimate Explorer. With a moderately sized aperture of 2 meters, broad wavelength coverage (4 - 25 um), and next generation instruments, MIRECLE will be capable of efficiently characterizing a statistically significant sample of terrestrial planets, many of which will be in their host stars's habitable zones. Spectroscopic characterization of terrestrial atmospheres will provide constraints for the distribution of planets with tenuous vs. substantial atmospheres, on the inner and outer edges of the habitable…
The Goldilocks problem for detecting water in terrestrial planets: Constraining water abundances in the mid-IR with LIFE
University of Edinburgh（爱丁堡大学）；York University（约克大学）；ETH Zurich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）；German Aerospace Center (DLR)（德国航空航天中心（DLR））；Free University of Berlin（柏林自由大学）；University of Groningen（格罗宁根大学）；University of Bern（伯尔尼大学）
The almost unexplored frequency window from submillimeter to mid-infrared (mid-IR) may bring new clues about the particle acceleration and transport processes and the atmospheric thermal response during solar flares. Because of its technical complexity and the special atmospheric environment needed, observations at these frequencies are very sparse. The High Altitude THz Solar Photometer (HATS) is a full-Sun ground-based telescope designed to observe the continuum from the submillimeter to the mid-IR. It has a 457-mm spherical mirror with the sensor in its primary focus. The sensor is a Golay …
