Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Direct Detection of Extra-solar Planets Using High Contrast Imaging

James R. Graham

University of Toronto

Large astronomical telescopes coupled with new adaptive optics technologies enable high contrast imaging. Current systems approach a dynamic range of nearly a million to one on scales near the diffraction limit. In the next decade a new generation of instruments will improve contrast by another one to two orders of magnitude and provide images of extra-solar planetary systems.