Direct imaging of planetary systems with a ground-based radio telescope array

Details Direct imaging of planetary systems with a ground-based radio telescope array Direct imaging of planetary systems with a ground-based radio telescope array

Feb 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994ap%26ss.212..391j&link_type=abstract

Astrophysics and Space Science, vol. 212, nos. 1-2, p. 391-394

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

1

Extrasolar Planets, Gas Giant Planets, Imaging Techniques, Planetary Systems, Radio Telescopes, Antarctic Regions, Antenna Arrays, Cost Estimates, Detection, Millimeter Waves, Searching, Spectral Sensitivity, Submillimeter Waves

Scientific paper

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory's proposed Millimeter Array (MMA) will bring unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution, and image dynamic range to the millimeter wavelength region of the spectrum. An obvious question is whether such an instrument could be used to detect planets orbiting nearby stars. The techniques of aperture synthesis imaging developed for centimeter wavelength radio arrays are capable of producing images whose dynamic ranges greatly exceed the brightness ratio of a solar-type star and a Jupiter-like planet at sub-millimeter or millimeter wavelengths. The angular resolution required to separate a star and planet at a few pc distance can be obtained with baselines of several km. The greatest challenge is sensitivity. At the highest possible observing frequencies (approximately 300 GHz for typical high, dry sites, and approximately 900 GHz from the Antarctic plateau), the proposed MMA will be unable to detect the thermal emission from a Jupiter-like planet a few pc away. An upgraded MMA operating near 300 GHz with twice the currently proposed number of antennas, a 20% fractional bandwidth, and improved receivers could detect Jupiter at 4 pc in a few months. Building such an array on the Antarctic plateau and operating at approximately 900 GHz would allow Jupiter at 4 pc to be detected in approximately one day of observing time.

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