Infrared differential imager and spectrograph for SPHERE: performance assessment for on-sky operation

Maud Langlois (1, 2) , Arthur Vigan (1) , Kjetil Dohlen (1) , Claire Moutou (1) , Jean-Luc Beuzit (3) , A. Boccaletti (4) , Michael Carle (1) , Anne Costille (1) , R. Dorn (5) , Laurence Gluck (6) , C. Gry (1) , N. Hubin (7) , M. Feldt (8) , M. Kasper , Fabrice Madec (1) , David Le Mignant (1) , J.-L. Lizon (9) , David Mouillet (10) , A. Origné (1) , P. Puget , Jean-François Sauvage (3) , F. Wildi (11) , A. Zurlo (1) , Suzanne Ramsay , Ian Mclean , Hideki Takami

1 LAM - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
2 CRAL - Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon
3 ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab [Châtillon]
4 LESIA (UMR_8109) - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
5 School of Geographical Sciences
6 Lille 3 UFR IDIST - Université Lille 3 - UFR Information, Documentation, Information Scientifique et Technique
7 ESO - European Southern Observatory
8 MPIA - Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie
9 ESO - European Southern Observatory [Santiago]
10 IPAG - Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
11 ObsGE - Observatoire Astronomique de l'Université de Genève

SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research) is a second-generation instrument for the VLT, optimized for very high-contrast imaging around bright stars. Its primary goal is the detection and characterization of new giant planets around nearby stars, together with the observation of early planetary systems and disks. The Infrared Dual Imager and Spectrograph (IRDIS), one of the three SPHERE subsystems, will provide dual-band imaging in the near-infrared, among with other observing modes such as long slit spectroscopy, classical imaging and infrared polarimetry. IRDIS is able to achieve very high contrast with the help of extreme-AO turbulence compensation, coronography, exceptional image quality, very accurate calibration strategies and advanced data processing. IRDIS underwent extensively laboratory testing during the integration and optimization of SPHERE at IPAG and it is now integrated to the VLT/ESO. We will present the results of performances and operations validations performed with SPHERE. In particular we present the achievable level of contrast and compare it with on-sky results obtained at the VLT/ESO.

Domains: Astrophysics [astro-ph]

Maud Langlois, Arthur Vigan, Kjetil Dohlen, Claire Moutou, Jean-Luc Beuzit, et al.. Infrared differential imager and spectrograph for SPHERE: performance assessment for on-sky operation. SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Jul 2014, Montréal, Canada. pp.91479P, ⟨10.1117/12.2055535⟩. ⟨hal-02118414⟩