High-contrast imaging and high-resolution spectroscopy observation of exoplanets

Abstract

Detection and characterization of exoplanets faces challenges of smaller angular separation and high contrast between exoplanets and their host stars. High contrast imaging (HCI) instruments equipped with coronagraphs are built to meet these challenges, providing a way of spatially suppressing and separating stellar flux from that of a planet. Another way of separating stellar flux can be achieved by high-resolution spectroscopy (HRS), exploiting the fact that spectral features are different between a star and a planet. Observing exoplanets with HCI+HRS will achieve a higher contrast than the spatial or the spectroscopic method alone, improving the sensitivity to planet detection and enabling the study of the physical and chemical processes. Here, we simulate the performance of a HCI+HRS instrument (i.e., the upgrade Keck NIRSPEC and the fiber injection unit) to study its potential in detecting and characterizing currently known directly imaged planets. The simulation considers the spectral information content of an exoplanet, telescope and instrument specifications and realistic noise sources. The result of the simulation helps to set system requirement and informs designs at system-level. We also perform a trade study for a HCI+HRS instrument for a space mission to study an Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star at 10 pc.

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