Simulation of the final image produced by GPI. A bright star is observed, but the light is greatly diminished due to the adaptive optics system and coronagraph. A faint point of light (circled) simulates the existence of a planet near the star.

Image cube
Click here for an animation of a simulated data cube. Each frame represents a small step in wavelength. Note how one planet (lower left of the star) winks in and out of the animation, while the other (above the star) gets brighter very slowly. This is how GPI will deliver near-infrared spectra of exoplanets.


Welcome

The Gemini Planet Imager is the next generation adaptive optics instrument being built for the Gemini Telescope. The goal is to image extrasolar planets orbiting nearby stars. See the GPI Overview PDF (hires, lowres).

WHO: GPI is being built by a consortium of U.S. and Canadian institutions, funded by the Gemini Observatory, which is an international partnership comprising the U.S.A., U.K., Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil & Chile.

WHEN: First light and science operations are planned for mid-2012. GPI successfully held its preliminary design review (PDR) in May 2007 and critical design review (CDR) in May 2008. A delta CDR was successful in March, 2009. GPI is currently in a phase of procurement and fabrication with testing and integration through 2011. The readiness review will be held in Spring 2011 and will be followed by delivery around June 2012.

WHERE: Initial deployment at Gemini South, a telescope with an 8-meter diameter mirror located on Cerro Pachon (Chilean Andes) at an altitude of 2715 meters (9000 feet). Later, GPI may also be used at the twin facility Gemini North, which is located on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

WHY: We want to directly detect the light from an extrasolar planet to determine its mass and composition, with an ultimate goal of determining the nature of our own planetary system. More than 200 extrasolar planets are now known, but mostly through indirect Doppler techniques that indicate the planet's mass and orbit. If we can directly pick out a planet from the star's glare, we can use spectroscopy to measure the planet's size, temperature, gravity, and even the composition of its atmosphere. By targeting many stars we will understand how common or unusual our own planetary system may be.

HOW: We will create advanced adaptive optics using silicon microchip deformable mirrors to remove atmospheric turbulence, and coronagraphic masks to block the diffracted light from the parent star.

WHAT: GPI will provide diffraction limited images between 0.9 and 2.4 microns. Bright natural guide stars (I<9 mag) are required for optimal performance of the GPI adaptive optics system. The system will be able to see objects ten million times fainter than their parent star at separations of 0.2-1 arcsecond in a 1-2 hour exposure. The science instrument will provide spectroscopy of any object observed. This allows us to detect warm planets (up to a billion years in age) through their infrared light. We can also measure the polarization of light to see faint disks of dust from other solar systems' comet and asteroid belts.

SO WHAT:GPI will produce the first comprehensive survey of giant planets in the region where giant planets exist in our solar system - from 5 to 40 astronomical units radius. Dozens of these planets will be bright enough for high signal-to-noise ratio spectroscopy, moving our studies of extrasolar planets into the realm of detailed astrophysics.