PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Out-of-this-world first light images emerge from Gemini Planet Imager

2014-01-08
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Anne Stark
stark8@llnl.gov
925-422-9799
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Out-of-this-world first light images emerge from Gemini Planet Imager After nearly a decade of development, construction and testing, the world's most advanced instrument for directly imaging and analyzing planets orbiting around other stars is pointing skyward and collecting light from distant worlds.

"Even these early first-light images are almost a factor of 10 better than the previous generation of instruments. In one minute, we were seeing planets that used to take us an hour to detect," says Bruce Macintosh of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, who led the team who built the instrument.

For the past decade, Lawrence Livermore has been leading a multi-institutional team in the design, engineering, building and optimization of the instrument, called the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), which will be used for high-contrast imaging to better study faint planets or dusty disks next to bright stars. Astronomers – including a team at LLNL – have made direct images of a handful of extrasolar planets by adapting astronomical cameras built for other purposes. GPI is the first fully optimized planet imager, designed from the ground up for exoplanet imaging deployed on one of the world's biggest telescopes, the 8-meter Gemini South telescope in Chile.

Probing the environments of distant stars in a search for planets has required the development of next-generation, high-contrast adaptive optics (AO) systems, in which Livermore is a leader. These systems are sometimes referred to as extreme AO.

Macintosh said direct imaging of planets is challenging because planets such as Jupiter are a billion times fainter than their parent stars. "Detection of the youngest and brightest planets is barely within reach of today's AO systems," he said. "To see other solar systems, we need new tools."

And those new tools are installed in the Gemini Planet Imager with the most advanced AO system in the world. In addition to leading the whole project, LLNL also was responsible for the AO system. Designed to be the world's "most sophisticated" astronomical system for compensating turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere – an ongoing problem for ground-based telescopes -- the system senses atmospheric turbulence and corrects it with a a 2-centimeter-square deformable mirror with 4,000 actuators. This deformable mirror is made of etched silicon, similar to microchips, rather than the large reflective glass mirrors used on other AO systems. This allows GPI to be compact and stable. The new mirror corrects for atmospheric distortions by adjusting its shape 1,000 times per second with accuracy better than 1 nanometer. Together with the other parts of GPI, astronomers can directly image extra-solar planets that are 1 million to 10 million times fainter than their host stars.

GPI carried out its first observations in November 2013 – during an extremely smooth debut for an extraordinarily complex astronomical instrument the size of a small car. "The GPI team's huge amount of high quality work has begun to pay off and now holds the promise of many years of important science to come," said LLNL Project Manager David Palmer.

For GPI's first observations, it targeted previously known planetary systems – the 4-planet HR8799 system (co-discovered by an LLNL-led team at the Gemini and Keck Observatory in 2008) and the Beta Pictoris system, among others. GPI has obtained the first-ever spectrum of the very young planet Beta Pictoris b.

The first-light team also used the instrument's unique polarization mode – tuned to look at starlight scattered by tiny particles – in order to study a ring of dust orbiting the very young star HR4796. With previous instruments, only the edges of this dust ring (which may be the debris remaining from planet formation) could be seen. GPI can follow the entire circumference of the ring. The images were released today at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington D.C. Jan. 5-9.

"GPI's performance requirements are extremely challenging," explained LLNL engineer Lisa Poyneer, who developed the algorithms used to correct for atmospheric turbulence, and led the testing of the adaptive optics system in the laboratory and at the telescope. "As a result, the AO system features several original technologies that were designed specifically for exoplanet science. After years of development and testing, it is very rewarding to see the AO system operating so well and enabling these remarkable images."

Imaging exoplanets is highly complementary to other exoplanet success stories like NASA's Kepler mission. Kepler is extremely sensitive to small planets close to their parent star and focuses on mature stars – GPI detects infrared radiation from young Jupiter-like objects in wide orbits, the equivalent of the giant planets in our solar system not long after their formation.

"GPI represents a critical step in the road toward understanding how planetary systems form and develop," said Dmitry Savransky, an LLNL postdoc who worked on the integration and testing of GPI before moving to a position at Cornell. "While broad survey missions, such as Kepler, have revealed the variety of planets that exist in our galaxy, GPI will allow us to study a few dozen planets in exquisite detail."

###

GPI is an international project led by LLNL under Gemini's supervision, with Macintosh serving as principal investigator LLNL engineer Palmer as project manager. In addition to Macintosh, Palmer and Poyneer, the LLNL team consisted of Brian Bauman, Scot Olivier, and former employees Dmitry Savransky, Steve Jones, Christian Marois, Quinn Konopacky, Gary Sommargren and Julia Evans.

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Hubble unveils a deep sea of small and faint early galaxies

2014-01-08
Hubble unveils a deep sea of small and faint early galaxies UC Riverside-led research shows the galaxies are the faintest and most numerous ever seen in the early universe RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A team of scientists led by astronomers at the University ...

Neuroscience study uncovers new player in obesity

2014-01-08
Neuroscience study uncovers new player in obesity A protein directs appetite suppressor in the brain; implications for obesity treatment BOSTON (January 7, 2014, 5:00 pm ET) — A new neuroscience study sheds light on the biological underpinnings ...

Finding about classic suppressor of immunity points toward new therapies for bad infections

2014-01-08
Finding about classic suppressor of immunity points toward new therapies for bad infections AUGUSTA, Ga. - A well-documented suppressor of immunity that's used by fetuses and tumors alike, just may be able to change its spots, researchers ...

Study: 'Living Room' offers alternative treatment for emotional distress

2014-01-08
Study: 'Living Room' offers alternative treatment for emotional distress Patients perceive nonclinical care setting as 'helpful and positive' CHICAGO — Emergency departments may not be the best choice for persons suffering from severe mental illness or emotional distress. ...

AGU journal highlights -- Jan. 7, 2014

2014-01-08
AGU journal highlights -- Jan. 7, 2014 The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) and Water Resources Research (WRR). In this release: Kīlauea magma chamber inflation triggered ...

Microbe community changes may reduce Amazon's ability to lock up carbon dioxide

2014-01-08
Microbe community changes may reduce Amazon's ability to lock up carbon dioxide UT Arlington researchers focusing on the Amazon recently found that widespread conversion from rainforest to pastureland has significant effects on microorganism communities that ...

New research study: The snowball effect of overfishing

2014-01-08
New research study: The snowball effect of overfishing TALLAHASSEE – Florida State University researchers have spearheaded a major review of fisheries research that examines the domino effect that occurs when too many fish are harvested from one habitat. The ...

The epigenetics of breast cancer family history

2014-01-08
The epigenetics of breast cancer family history Breast cancer runs in families; however, genetic predisposition (such as being BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers) explains only a portion of this observation. Epigenetic changes (modifications in the genome that alter gene ...

Perceived benefits of e-cigarettes may lead to higher experimentation rates

2014-01-08
Perceived benefits of e-cigarettes may lead to higher experimentation rates New study finds link between common beliefs and e-cigarette use among young adults Ann Arbor, MI, January 7, 2014 – Despite years of anti-smoking education and legislation, tobacco use still ...

Health and wealth connected?

2014-01-08
Health and wealth connected? By studying Google search data, researchers led by SDSU professor John Ayers discovered Americans had more health concerns during the recession SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Jan. 7, 2014)—We ring in the New Year with hopes of being healthy, wealthy, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] Out-of-this-world first light images emerge from Gemini Planet Imager