Observing Strategies for the NICI Campaign to Directly Image Extrasolar Planets

Abstract

We discuss observing strategy for the Near Infrared Coronagraphic Imager (NICI) on the 8-m Gemini South telescope. NICI combines a number of techniques to attenuate starlight and suppress superspeckles: 1) coronagraphic imaging, 2) dual channel imaging for Spectral Differential Imaging (SDI) and 3) operation in a fixed Cassegrain rotator mode for Angular Differential Imaging (ADI). NICI will be used both in service mode and for a dedicated 50 night planet search campaign. While all of these techniques have been used individually in large planet-finding surveys, this is the first time ADI and SDI will be used with a coronagraph in a large survey. Thus, novel observing strategies are necessary to conduct a viable planet search campaign.

arXiv comment12 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Proceedings of the SPIE

References in corpus (3)

• The Gemini Deep Planet Survey -- GDPS
• A search for hot massive extrasolar planets around nearby young stars with the adaptive optics system NACO
• TRIDENT: an Infrared Differential Imaging Camera Optimized for the Detection of Methanated Substellar Companions

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Imaging Extrasolar Giant Planets
• Planets Around Low-Mass Stars (PALMS). IV. The Outer Architecture of M Dwarf Planetary Systems
• The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: The Frequency of Planets around Young Moving Group Stars
• The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: Discovery of a Close Substellar Companion to the Young Debris Disk Star PZ Tel