First Light with ALES: A 2-5 Micron Adaptive Optics Integral Field Spectrograph for the LBT

Abstract

Integral field spectrographs are an important technology for exoplanet imaging, due to their ability to take spectra in a high-contrast environment, and improve planet detection sensitivity through spectral differential imaging. ALES is the first integral field spectrograph capable of imaging exoplanets from 3-5$\mu$m, and will extend our ability to characterize self-luminous exoplanets into a wavelength range where they peak in brightness. ALES is installed inside LBTI/LMIRcam on the Large Binocular Telescope, taking advantage of existing AO systems, camera optics, and a HAWAII-2RG detector. The new optics that comprise ALES are a Keplerian magnifier, a silicon lenslet array with diffraction suppressing pinholes, a direct vision prism, and calibration optics. All of these components are installed in filter wheels making ALES a completely modular design. ALES saw first light at the LBT in June 2015.

13 pages, 9 figures, Proc. SPIE

References in corpus (3)

• Directly Imaged L-T Transition Exoplanets in the Mid-Infrared
• The LEECH Exoplanet Imaging Survey. Further constraints on the planet architecture of the HR 8799 system
• L'-band AGPM vector vortex coronagraph's first light on LBTI/LMIRCam

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• First light of the VLT planet finder SPHERE. IV. Physical and chemical properties of the planets around HR8799
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• The First Spectrum of the Coldest Brown Dwarf
• Methane in Analogs of Young Directly Imaged Exoplanets
• The vector-apodizing phase plate coronagraph: design, current performance, and future development
• Minimizing the polarization leakage of geometric-phase coronagraphs with multiple grating pattern combinations
• Prospects for Directly Imaging Young Giant Planets at Optical Wavelengths
• Measuring the variability of directly imaged exoplanets using vector Apodizing Phase Plates combined with ground-based differential spectrophotometry
• High Contrast Thermal Infrared Spectroscopy with ALES: The 3-4$\mu$m Spectrum of $\kappa$ Andromedae b
• High Spatial Resolution Thermal-Infrared Spectroscopy with ALES: Resolved Spectra of the Benchmark Brown Dwarf Binary HD 130948BC
• Orbital Modeling of HII 1348B: An Eccentric Young Substellar Companion in the Pleiades
• Chasing the storm: Investigating the application of high-contrast imaging techniques in producing precise exoplanet light curves
• L-band Integral Field Spectroscopy of the HR 8799 Planetary System