First results from the MIT Optical Rapid Imaging System (MORIS) on the IRTF: a stellar occultation by Pluto and a transit by exoplanet XO-2b

TL;DR

MORIS is a high-speed visible imaging system on the IRTF enabling precise measurements of stellar occultations and exoplanet transits, demonstrating its capability with initial observations of Pluto and XO-2b.

Contribution

This paper introduces MORIS, a new high-speed imaging instrument, and reports its first successful science observations of Pluto occultation and exoplanet transit.

Findings

Pluto occultation achieved SNR of 35 per atmospheric scale height.

XO-2b transit reached 0.5 millimagnitude photometric precision.

Midtime measurement errors were 0.32 seconds for Pluto and 23 seconds for XO-2b.

Abstract

We present a high-speed, visible-wavelength imaging instrument: MORIS (the MIT Optical Rapid Imaging System). MORIS is mounted on the 3-m Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, HI. Its primary component is an Andor iXon camera, a nearly 60 arcsec square field of view with high quantum efficiency, low read noise, low dark current, and full-frame readout rates ranging from as slow as desired to a maximum of between 3.5 Hz and 35 Hz (depending on the mode; read noise of 6e-/pixel and 49 e-/pixel with electron-multiplying gain=1, respectively). User-selectable binning and subframing can increase the cadence to a few hundred Hz. An electron-multiplying mode can be employed for photon counting, effectively reducing the read noise to sub-electron levels at the expense of dynamic range. Data cubes, or individual frames, can be triggered to several nanosecond accuracy using the Global Positioning System. MORIS is mounted on the side-facing exit window of SpeX (Rayner et al. 2003), allowing simultaneous near-infrared and visible observations. Here we describe the components, setup, and measured characteristics of MORIS. We also report results from the first science observations: the 24 June 2008 stellar occultation by Pluto and an extrasolar planetary transit by XO-2b. The Pluto occultation, of a 15.8 R magnitude star, has signal-to-noise ratio of 35 per atmospheric scale height and a midtime error of 0.32 s. The XO-2b transit reaches photometric precision of 0.5 millimagnitudes in 2 minutes and has a midtime timing precision of 23 seconds.