High-contrast observations of extrasolar planets and protoplanetary disks

All major ground-based astronomical observatories are equipped with sophisticated, adaptive optics assisted high-contrast imaging instruments working at optical and/or near-infrared wavelengths. One of the key science drivers for these developments is the direct detection of extrasolar planets and circumstellar disks, the birthplaces of planetary systems. In this talk I will motivate the scientific interest for this research field, explain the main challenges for high-contrast imaging observations and how they can be overcome, and give a broad overview about the key scientific results obtained over the last years. I will conclude with an outlook what we can expect in the future with high-contrast imaging instruments for the next generation of 30-40 m telescopes such as Europe’s Extremely Large Telescope.

Student event: Meet the speaker

We invite you to a student-only discussion-round with Dr. Sascha Quanz before his Munich Physics Colloquium talk. Be curious and feel free to ask any question.
Monday, 4th of June 2018, 16:00 h, Room H 522 (5th floor), Fakultät für Physik der LMU, Schellingstraße 4, München.