1. High-contrast imaging with AO Claire Max with help of Bruce Macintosh GSMT Science Working Group December 2002

2. Slide 2 Types of high-contrast AO imaging Point sources near bright stars: images and spectra –Brown dwarfs –Young Jupiters (still shining in IR) –Older Jupiters shining by reflected light –Ultimately, Earth-like planets (?) Disks –Debris disks best observed in thermal IR: good motivation for separate cooled AO system aimed at mid-IR –Protostellar and protoplanetary disks –Have proven to be a challenge for current AO systems –But AO polarimetry is VERY promising

3. Slide 3 Context All detailed AO simulation results are for 8-10m telescopes Simulations for 30m telescopes still need to be done

4. Slide 4 Extreme AO Phase Space (Impressionistic chart originally done for 10m telescope)

5. Slide 5 Young vs. old Jupiters

6. Slide 6 Point-source sensitivities of Keck AO, NICMOS

7. Slide 7 Current examples of high contrast images High Dynamic Range at modest separations (~1 arc sec) –Existence supported by disk structures –Confirmation by proper motion essential –Current 8-10m contrast ratios: ~10 6 NICMOS image of HD141569 Showing gap at 250 AU possibly created by wide planet(s) Keck AO image showing a candidate for young extra-solar planet (224 AU, 3-7 M J, if confirmed)

8. Slide 8 “Extreme” AO

9. Slide 9

10. Slide 10 Keck AO simulations

11. Slide 11 Detection of Jupiters in reflected light Q  30m telescopes

12. Slide 12 Disk Structures with AO: Role for Thermal IR 3 micron imaging studies 1-2  m NICMOS Study shows colorless scattering Grain growth interpretation ambiguous Simulations for GG Tau L-band (3  m)

13. Imaging AO polarimetry is central to detecting structure in circumstellar disks Dan Potter, UH

14. Slide 14 Disk Structures with AO Polarimetry Lick AO Near-infrared polarimetry studies –Measure two orthogonal polarization states simultaneously, subtract to get only polarized light (dust only!) –Dan Potter (UH), Marshall Perrin (UC Berkeley - Lick) LkH  234 IQUP R Mon results

15. Slide 15 Points to importance of differential detection methods Polarimetry Comparison of different spectral bands –Example: methane vs. non-methane –Integral field AO spectrographs will be inherently very capable for this task

16. Slide 16 Summary Current state of the art for AO on 8-10m telescopes: –Contrast ratio of ~ 10 6 at separation of ~1 arc sec –Polarimetry, coronagraphy, two-color detection will be very important –“Extreme AO” under active investigation “Extreme AO” on 8-10m telescopes will increase this by factor of 10 - 50 –Can clearly do Jupiters (young and old); Uranus-Neptune Critical issues: –Can Extreme AO on GSMT detect Earthlike planets?? –Specifically how does AO performance affect the various GSMT Science Cases? –How will GSMT performance compare with JWST?