The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems III: Aperture Masking Interferometric Observations of the star HIP 65426 at 3.8 μm
Abstract
We present aperture masking interferometry (AMI) observations of the star HIP 65426 at $3.8\,\rm{μm}$ as a part of the \textit{JWST} Direct Imaging Early Release Science (ERS) program obtained using the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument. This mode provides access to very small inner working angles (even separations slightly below the Michelson limit of ${}0.5λ/D$ for an interferometer), which are inaccessible with the classical inner working angles of the \textit{JWST} coronagraphs. When combined with \textit{JWST}'s unprecedented infrared sensitivity, this mode has the potential to probe a new portion of parameter space across a wide array of astronomical observations. Using this mode, we are able to achieve a contrast of $Δm_{F380M}{\sim }7.8$\,mag relative to the host star at a separation of ${\sim}0.07\arcsec$ but detect no additional companions interior to the known companion HIP\,65426\,b. Our observations thus rule out companions more massive than $10{-}12\,\rm{M\textsubscript{Jup}}$ at separations ${\sim}10{-}20\,\rm{au}$ from HIP\,65426, a region out of reach of ground or space-based coronagraphic imaging. These observations confirm that the AMI mode on \textit{JWST} is sensitive to planetary mass companions orbiting at the water frost line, even for more distant stars at $\sim$100\,pc. This result will allow the planning and successful execution of future observations to probe the inner regions of nearby stellar systems, opening essentially unexplored parameter space. Show more
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https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000655609Publication status
publishedJournal / series
arXivPages / Article No.
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Cornell UniversityEdition / version
v1Subject
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM); FOS: Physical sciencesOrganisational unit
09680 - Quanz, Sascha Patrick / Quanz, Sascha Patrick
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submitted to ApJ LettersMore
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