Characterizing exoplanetary systems with current and next generation high contrast imaging platforms

Supervisor: Dr Sasha Hinkley

Although the majority of exoplanets identified to date have only been indirectly detected based on some effect they have on their host star’s light, we now have an increasingly large number of direct detections of extrasolar planetary systems.  In this PhD project, the student will undertake an observational effort potentially involving several international teams to use existing and planned observational platforms, including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the upcoming METIS instrument on the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) which will achieve first light in 2029-30.  JWST is already opening completely new areas of exoplanet characterization by directly imaging exoplanets at totally new wavelengths, giving us insight into their atmospheric compositions and dynamical interactions with circumstellar debris disks. JWST also has sensitivity that is vastly superior to ground-based observatories, allowing us to search for a totally new class of planets: analogues of our own Jupiter and Saturn at wide orbital separations.  Similarly, METIS is the only one of the first-generation ELT instruments that is sensitive in the mid-infrared, but is highly customized for high contrast imaging and high resolution spectroscopy of exoplanetary systems. 

The new PhD student will have access to actual JWST coronagraphic data from the first several cycles, as well as synthetic ELT/METIS data leading up to first light data at the end of this decade. This PhD project will be primarily focussed on data processing, using advanced image processing techniques.  The results of these studies will help to illuminate our understanding of the outer architectures of planetary systems, as well as possibly reveal new aspects of exoplanet atmospheres, forming a synergy with the world-leading exoplanet atmosphere modelling group at Exeter.

The exact focus of this PhD project is flexible, depending on the interest of the student and the outcome of future observing proposals.  Such a PhD position will position the student extremely well for future studies of exoplanets with JWST and the Extremely Large Telescope in the 2030’s.