Abstract
Starting in 2008, NASA has provided the exoplanet community an observational program aimed at obtaining the highest resolution imaging available as part of its mission to validate and characterize exoplanets, as well as their stellar environments, in search of life in the Universe. Our current program uses speckle interferometry in the optical (320–1,000 nm) with new instruments on the 3.5-m WIYN and both 8-m Gemini telescopes. Starting with Kepler and K2 follow-up, we now support TESS and other space- and ground-based exoplanet related discovery and characterization projects. The importance of high-resolution imaging for exoplanet research comes via identification of nearby stellar companions that can dilute the transit signal and confound derived exoplanet and stellar parameters. Our observations therefore provide crucial information allowing accurate planet and stellar properties to be determined. Our community program obtains high-resolution imagery, reduces the data, and provides all final data products, without any exclusive use period, to the community via the Exoplanet Follow-Up Observation Program (ExoFOP) website maintained by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. This paper describes the need for high-resolution imaging and gives details of the speckle imaging program, highlighting some of the major scientific discoveries made along the way.
Highlights
The study of exoplanets is one of the most important topics in astrophysics today
The datasets presented in this study can be found in the online NASA Exoplanet archive: https://exoplanetarchive.ipac. caltech.edu
SH—wrote the majority of the manuscript, leads the program NS, EF, RM—made substantial contributions to the manuscript ME, DC, KL, CG—Part of observation/instrument team
Summary
Starting over a decade ago, in support of the NASA Kepler mission, a program providing follow-up observations began It became clear as Kepler was nearing launch, that the 4 arcsec pixels (Borucki et al, 2010) as well as the many possible confounding events which could imitate exoplanet transit events (e.g., Brown et al, 2011; Santerne et al, 2013) would require follow-up observations from ground-based telescopes in order to validate and characterize any discovered transit candidates. Exoplanet transit and radial velocity studies mainly focus on (A) F to M stars, our speckle imaging techniques have been used for research programs related to stars of all spectral and luminosity classes, extended objects, and Solar System bodies. These applications are not discussed further in this report.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
