Aperture Masking Interferometry for Subaru

TL;DR

Aperture Masking Interferometry combined with Adaptive Optics enhances high-contrast imaging at Subaru, enabling detection of faint companions at small separations and promising significant performance improvements with planned upgrades.

Contribution

This paper discusses implementing Aperture Masking Interferometry on Subaru and explores how upcoming Extreme-AO upgrades will improve its capabilities.

Findings

Potential to detect faint companions at small angular separations.

Enhanced performance with planned Extreme-AO upgrade.

Broader access to high-contrast imaging parameter space.

Abstract

Aperture Masking Interferometry used in combination with Adaptive Optics, is a powerful technique that permits the detection of faint companions at small angular separations. The precision calibration of the data achieved with this observing mode indeed leads to reliable results up to and beyond the formal diffraction limit, explaining why it has, in just a few years, been ported on most major telescopes. In this poster, we present its possible implementation on Subaru. We also discuss how the opportunity offered by the planned Extreme-AO upgrade to HiCIAO will push further the performance of this already successful technique, offering Subaru a unique access to a very exciting region of the "contrast-ratio - angular separation" parameter space.