Performance of the Near-infrared coronagraphic imager on Gemini-South

Abstract

We present the coronagraphic and adaptive optics performance of the Gemini-South Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager (NICI). NICI includes a dual-channel imager for simultaneous spectral difference imaging, a dedicated 85-element curvature adaptive optics system, and a built-in Lyot coronagraph. It is specifically designed to survey for and image large extra-solar gaseous planets on the Gemini Observatory 8-meter telescope in Chile. We present the on-sky performance of the individual subsystems along with the end-to-end contrast curve. These are compared to our model predictions for the adaptive optics system, the coronagraph, and the spectral difference imaging.

arXiv commentProc. SPIE, Vol. 7015, 70151V (2008)

References in corpus (3)

• The Gemini Deep Planet Survey -- GDPS
• TRIDENT: an Infrared Differential Imaging Camera Optimized for the Detection of Methanated Substellar Companions
• NICI: combining coronagraphy, ADI, and SDI

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• Spiral Arms in Disks: Planets or Gravitational Instability?
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• Magellan Adaptive Optics first-light observations of the exoplanet $\beta$ Pic b. I. Direct imaging in the far-red optical with MagAO+VisAO and in the near-IR with NICI
• Near-Infrared Detection and Characterization of the Exoplanet HD 95086 b with the Gemini Planet Imager
• The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: Asymmetries in the HD 141569 disc
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• Sub-systems in nearby solar-type wide binaries
• Searching for Planets in Holey Debris Disks with the Apodizing Phase Plate
• The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: The Offset Ring of HR 4796 A
• The Geneva Reduction and Analysis Pipeline for High-contrast Imaging of planetary Companions
• Characterising brown dwarf companions with IRDIS long-slit spectroscopy: HD 1160 B and HD 19467 B
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• Searching for Gas Giant Planets on Solar System Scales: VLT NACO/APP Observations of the Debris Disk Host Stars HD172555 and HD115892
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