LASSO: Large Adaptive optics Survey for Substellar Objects using the new SAPHIRA detector on Robo-AO

TL;DR

This paper presents the initial results of a large infrared adaptive optics survey using Robo-AO and a new SAPHIRA detector to search for wide-orbit substellar companions around young nearby stars, aiming to understand their occurrence rates.

Contribution

It introduces a large-scale infrared AO survey utilizing a novel SAPHIRA detector on Robo-AO, significantly increasing the survey size and sensitivity for detecting wide-orbit substellar objects.

Findings

First results from the survey are reported.

The SAPHIRA detector shows high sensitivity and performance.

The survey's efficiency surpasses previous efforts.

Abstract

We report on initial results from the largest infrared AO direct imaging survey searching for wide orbit (>100 AU) massive exoplanets and brown dwarfs as companions around young nearby stars using Robo-AO at the 2.1-m telescope on Kitt Peak, Arizona. The occurrence rates of these rare substellar companions are critical to furthering our understanding of the origin of planetary-mass companions on wide orbits. The observing efficiency of Robo-AO allows us to conduct a survey an order of magnitude larger than previously possible. We commissioned a low-noise high-speed SAPHIRA near-infrared camera to conduct this survey and report on its sensitivity, performance, and data reduction process.