Search and investigation of extra-solar planets with polarimetry

Light reflected from planets is polarized. This basic property of planets provides the possibility for detecting and characterizing extra-solar planets using polarimetry. The expected polarization properties of extra-solar planets are discussed that can be inferred from polarimetry of “our” solar sy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 2005-10, Vol.1 (C200), p.165-170
Main Authors: Schmid, H. M., Beuzit, J.-L., Feldt, M., Gisler, D., Gratton, R., Henning, Th, Joos, F., Kasper, M., Lenzen, R., Mouillet, D., Moutou, C., Quirrenbach, A., Stam, D. M., Thalmann, C., Tinbergen, J., Verinaud, C., Waters, R., Wolstencroft, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Contributed Papers
Jupiter
Light
Observatories
Radiation
Saturn
Solar system
Stars & galaxies
Telescopes
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Summary:Light reflected from planets is polarized. This basic property of planets provides the possibility for detecting and characterizing extra-solar planets using polarimetry. The expected polarization properties of extra-solar planets are discussed that can be inferred from polarimetry of “our” solar system planets. They show a large variety of characteristics depending on the atmospheric and/or surface properties. Best candidates for a polarimetric detection are extra-solar planets with an optically thick Rayleigh scattering layer. Even the detection of highly polarized extra-solar planets requires a very sophisticated instrument. We present the results from a phase A (feasibility) study for a polarimetric arm in the ESO VLT planet finder instrument. It is shown that giant planets around nearby stars can be searched and investigated with an imaging polarimeter, combined with a powerful AO system and a coronagraph at an 8 m class telescope. A similar type of polarimeter is also considered for the direct detection of terrestrial planets using an AO system on one of the future Extremely Large Telescopes.
ISSN:1743-9213
1743-9221
DOI:10.1017/S1743921306009252