Into the Blue: AO Science with MagAO in the Visible

Abstract

We review astronomical results in the visible (λ<1μm) with adaptive optics. Other than a brief period in the early 1990s, there has been little astronomical science done in the visible with AO until recently. The most productive visible AO system to date is our 6.5m Magellan telescope AO system (MagAO). MagAO is an advanced Adaptive Secondary system at the Magellan 6.5m in Chile. This secondary has 585 actuators with < 1 msec response times (0.7 ms typically). We use a pyramid wavefront sensor. The relatively small actuator pitch (~23 cm/subap) allows moderate Strehls to be obtained in the visible (0.63-1.05 microns). We use a CCD AO science camera called "VisAO". On-sky long exposures (60s) achieve <30mas resolutions, 30% Strehls at 0.62 microns (r') with the VisAO camera in 0.5" seeing with bright R < 8 mag stars. These relatively high visible wavelength Strehls are made possible by our powerful combination of a next generation ASM and a Pyramid WFS with 378 controlled modes and 1000 Hz loop frequency. We'll review the key steps to having good performance in the visible and review the exciting new AO visible science opportunities and refereed publications in both broad-band (r,i,z,Y) and at Halpha for exoplanets, protoplanetary disks, young stars, and emission line jets. These examples highlight the power of visible AO to probe circumstellar regions/spatial resolutions that would otherwise require much larger diameter telescopes with classical infrared AO cameras.

arXiv comment14 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Proc. SPIE 9148

References in corpus (13)

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• The Extrasolar Planet epsilon Eridani b - Orbit and Mass
• PALM-3000: Exoplanet Adaptive Optics for the 5-meter Hale Telescope
• HD 106906 b: A planetary-mass companion outside a massive debris disk
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• Thermal Infrared MMTAO Observations of the HR 8799 Planetary System
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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
• Mid-Infrared Imaging of the Post-AGB Star AC Herculis with the MMT Adaptive Optics System
• MMT/AO 5 micron Imaging Constraints on the Existence of Giant Planets Orbiting Fomalhaut at ~13-40 AU
• High Resolution H alpha Images of the Binary Low-mass Proplyd LV 1 with the Magellan AO System
• The First Circumstellar Disk Imaged in Silhouette with Adaptive Optics: MagAO Imaging of Orion 218-354

Cited by in corpus (5)

• The Occurrence and Architecture of Exoplanetary Systems
• A search for accreting young companions embedded in circumstellar disks: High-contrast H$\alpha$ imaging with VLT/SPHERE
• Calibration of quasi-static aberrations in exoplanet direct-imaging instruments with a Zernike phase-mask sensor. II. Concept validation with ZELDA on VLT/SPHERE
• The Orbit of the Companion to HD 100453A: Binary-Driven Spiral Arms in a Protoplanetary Disk
• Lessons for WFIRST CGI from ground-based high-contrast systems