Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Joint Astrophysics Seminar

The Gemini Deep Planet Survey

René Doyon

Université de Montréal

The last decade has been very fruitful for exoplanet science. Since the first discovery of 51 Peg B in 1995, a “hot” Jupiter orbiting its parent star in only 4 days, more than 200 exoplanets have been detected so far through radial velocity measurements. With the recent imaging detection of a few planetary mass companions, a new chapter on exoplanet science is now opening. Imaging exoplanets is very challenging but it is absolutely crucial for constraining planet formation mechanisms and enable detailed study of planetary atmosphere physics. The Gemini Deep Planet Planet Survey is an ongoing international project on Gemini North aiming the direct imaging detection of giant gas planets around nearby young stars. The survey will be completed early in 2007. Observations are obtained with Altair/NIRI using a powerful high-contrast imaging technique called angular differential imaging making Gemini one of the most powerful telescopes in the world for high-contrast imaging applications. In this talk, I will describe the GDPS project and its status and I will briefly discuss future opportunities for exoplanet imaging on ground-based and spaced-based telescopes.