GravityCam: Wide-field Imaging Surveys in the Visible from the Ground

TL;DR

GravityCam is a ground-based imaging instrument that achieves sharper images than traditional methods, enabling advances in exoplanet detection, dark matter studies, and solar system object surveys.

Contribution

It introduces a new high-speed, wide-field imaging technique that significantly improves image resolution without adaptive optics, expanding observational capabilities.

Findings

3-5 fold improvement in image resolution

Enhanced detection rate of Earth-sized planets via microlensing

Potential for comprehensive surveys of dark matter and Solar System objects

Abstract

GravityCam is a new concept of ground-based imaging instrument capable of delivering significantly sharper images from the ground than is normally possible without adaptive optics. Advances in optical and near infrared imaging technologies allow images to be acquired at high speed without significant noise penalty. Aligning these images before they are combined can yield a 3-5 fold improvement in image resolution. By using arrays of such detectors, survey fields may be as wide as the telescope optics allows. We describe the instrument and detail its application to accelerate greatly the rate of detection of Earth size planets by gravitational microlensing. GravityCam will improve substantially the quality of weak shear studies of dark matter distribution in distant clusters of galaxies. An extensive microlensing survey will also provide a vast dataset for asteroseismology studies, and GravityCam promises to generate a unique data set on the population of the Kuiper belt and possibly the Oort cloud.