Astronomical instrumentation

Abstract:

Pictoris b is one of the closest known directly imaged gas giant exoplanets with an orbit that is almost edge-on to our line of sight, making it an ideal target for radial velocity monitoring to search for massive exomoons. We measure the radial velocity of Pictoris b over several epochs between October 2024 and March 2025 by using the cross-correlation of a template spectrum with absorption lines in the planet’s atmosphere, giving a mean precision of 160 m s. The resultant set of radial velocities is analysed with a periodogram to search for candidate radial velocity (RV) signals indicating a massive exomoon. Although we do not detect an exomoon signal in our data, our detection limits for a single moon are 80 Earth masses at d and 1 Jupiter at d, comparable to RV exomoon searches around other substellar companions. The RV limit is comparable with the astrometric exomoon limit at a period of 7 d and a mass of 150 , where for longer periods the astrometric searches have lower mass limits. With an additional observing season, the upgraded CRyogenic InfraRed Echelle Spectrograph (CRIRES+) can detect a planet/moon mass ratio of () with a period of up to one day, and can detect a Neptune-mass moon at hundreds of Jupiter radii.

Abstract:

Abstract Silicon is a key refractory element in giant planet atmospheres, which governs the formation of magnesium-silicate clouds, and reflects the quantity of silicates accreted during formation. While observations of directly imaged giant exoplanets have focused on the measurement of volatile species (e.g. CO, H2O), high-resolution spectroscopy with CRIRES+ M-band provides access to gas phase silicon chemistry in sub-stellar atmospheres, through the ro-vibrational band head of SiO at 4 μm. Here, we present the first results of the CRIMSON survey of silicon chemistry in directly imaged companions with CRIRES+ M-band. We report the strong detection of gaseous SiO (S/N = 7.5) in the directly imaged companion TWA 5 B, with an atmospheric abundance of log(SiO) = $-3.56^{+0.42}_{-0.32}$ VMR, providing access to the refractory content of the atmosphere. The high retrieved SiO abundance implies the absence of significant magnesium-silicate cloud condensation, and thus the atmospheric silicon abundance is contained almost entirely within the observed gas phase SiO. Using the detection of refractory silicon, together with strong detections of the volatile species CO (S/N = 9.1) and H2O (S/N = 18.8), we measure a stellar C/O and a marginally sub-stellar O/Si and C/Si, but a super-stellar Si/H ([Si/H]⋆ = $1.41^{+0.42}_{-0.32}$). Collectively, these volatile-to-refractory ratios are consistent with formation through core-accretion beyond the CO snowline, or gravitational instability followed by substantial solid enrichment. Finally, we discuss how gas phase SiO provides a unique diagnostic of the cloud properties in hot gas-giants, and can be used to probe the dominant cloud species forming across the directly imaged planet and isolated brown dwarf populations.

Abstract:

<jats:p> Atmospheric optical turbulence (OT) monitoring is crucial for site characterization at astronomical observatories and optical communications ground stations. The Shack–Hartmann image motion monitor (SHIMM) instrument implements a fast, infrared Shack–Hartmann sensor to measure a low-resolution OT profile continuously throughout the day and night. This work presents advances made in Shack–Hartman optical turbulence profiling techniques implemented on the SHIMM, including a derivation and validation of Z-tilt weighting functions, implementation of methods for correcting for non-zero exposure times, and for estimating the coherence time of optical turbulence using the profile coupled with the fast defocus method. These techniques were tested via end-to-end Monte Carlo simulations of the SHIMM instrument using real turbulence profiles from the Paranal stereo-SCIDAR instrument with an augmented ground layer. All measurements of integrated OT parameters were in strong agreement with the simulation inputs, evidenced by correlation coefficients close to one, small RMS error, and bias. The accuracy of the four-layer SHIMM model was also investigated, which showed high correlation with simulation inputs for all layers even in daytime OT conditions. This study suggests that, for the turbulence database used, and under realistic daytime noise conditions, a <jats:italic>C</jats:italic> <jats:sub> <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> </jats:sub> <jats:sup>2</jats:sup> ( <jats:italic>h</jats:italic> )d <jats:italic>h</jats:italic> sensitivity limit in the region of 2×10 <jats:sup>−15</jats:sup> m <jats:sup>1/3</jats:sup> was encountered in the highest altitude layer. There was also evidence of a cross-talk effect between the strong ground layer and the first atmospheric layer. </jats:p>