Li Wei Hung

Discovery and spectroscopy of the young jovian planet 51 Eri b with the Gemini Planet Imager

An exoplanet extracted from the bright Direct imaging of Jupiter-like exoplanets around young stars provides a glimpse into how our solar system formed. The brightness of young stars requires the use of next-generation devices such as the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). Using the GPI, Macintosh et al. discovered a Jupiter-like planet orbiting a young star, 51 Eridani (see the Perspective by Mawet). The planet, 51 Eri b, has a methane signature and is probably the smallest exoplanet that has been directly imaged. These findings open the door to understanding solar system origins and herald the dawn of a new era in next-generation planetary imaging. Science, this issue p. 64; see also p. 39 The Gemini Planet Imager detects a Jupiter-like exoplanet orbiting the young star 51 Eridani. [Also see Perspective by Mawet] Directly detecting thermal emission from young extrasolar planets allows measurement of their atmospheric compositions and luminosities, which are influenced by their formation mechanisms. Using the Gemini Planet Imager, we discovered a planet orbiting the ~20-million-year-old star 51 Eridani at a projected separation of 13 astronomical units. Near-infrared observations show a spectrum with strong methane and water-vapor absorption. Modeling of the spectra and photometry yields a luminosity (normalized by the luminosity of the Sun) of 1.6 to 4.0 × 10−6 and an effective temperature of 600 to 750 kelvin. For this age and luminosity, “hot-start” formation models indicate a mass twice that of Jupiter. This planet also has a sufficiently low luminosity to be consistent with the “cold-start” core-accretion process that may have formed Jupiter.

THE ORBIT and TRANSIT PROSPECTS for β PICTORIS b CONSTRAINED with ONE MILLIARCSECOND ASTROMETRY

Gemini Observatory; National Science Foundation [NSF AST-1518332]; NASA [NNX15AC89G, NNX15AD95G]; U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [DE-AC52-07NA27344]

SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF HD 95086 b WITH THE GEMINI PLANET IMAGER

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Improving and Assessing Planet Sensitivity of the GPI Exoplanet Survey with a Forward Model Matched Filter

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FIRST SCATTERED-LIGHT IMAGE OF THE DEBRIS DISK AROUND HD 131835 WITH THE GEMINI PLANET IMAGER

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1–2.4 μm Near-IR Spectrum of the Giant Planet β Pictoris b Obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager

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Constraints on the architecture of the HD 95086 planetary system with the Gemini Planet Imager

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SUZAKU X-RAY SPECTRA AND PULSE PROFILE VARIATIONS DURING THE SUPERORBITAL CYCLE OF LMC X-4

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An Optical/Near-infrared Investigation of HD 100546 b with the Gemini Planet Imager and MagAO

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Gemini Planet Imager observational calibrations XI: pipeline improvements and enhanced calibrations after two years on sky

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