Direct exoplanet imaging with small-angle Vortex coronagraphs
Denis Defrère  1@  , Olivier Absil  2@  , Dimitri Mawet  3@  , Karlsson Michael  4  , Serge Habraken  5  , Jean Surdej  5  , Pierre-Antoine Absil, Brunella Carlomagno  5  , Valentin Christieans, Christian Delacroix  6  , Pontus Forsberg, Julien Girard  7  , Carlos Gomez Gonzalez, Phil Hinz  1  , Elsa Huby, Alyssa Jolivet, Julien Milli  7  , Eric Pantin  8@  , Pierre Piron  5  , Eugene Serabyn  9@  , Marc Van Droogenbroeck, Ernesto Vargas Catalan, Olivier Wertz  5  
1 : University of Arizona  (UoA)
2 : Dept. d'Astrophysique, Géophysique et Océanographie  (ULg)  -  Website
Université de Liège bât. B5c 17 allée du Six Août B-4000 Sart-Tilman -  Belgium
3 : Caltech
4 : Uppsala University
5 : Dept. d'Astrophysique, Géophysique et Océanographie  (Ulg)
6 : University of Lyon  (CRAL)
CRAL
7 : European Southern Observatory  (ESO)
8 : CE Saclay DSM/IRFU/SAp, Service d'Astrophysique
CEA
Batiment 709 l'Orme Les Merisiers 91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex -  France
9 : Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology  (JPL)  -  Website
Jet Propulsion Laboratory 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, California 91109 -  United States

Vortex coronagraphs are among the most promising solutions to perform high contrast imaging at small angular separations from bright stars. They enhance the dynamic range at very small inner working angle (down to the diffraction limit of the telescope) and provide a clear 360 degree discovery space for high-contrast direct imaging of exoplanets. In this talk, we will report on the first scientific results obtained with Vortex coronagraphs installed on 10-m class telescopes (i.e., the VLT and the LBT) and on the recent installation of one Vortex at Keck. We will describe the in-lab and on-sky performance of the Vortex, and describe the lessons learned after a few years of operation. Finally, we will discuss the prospects of our vortices for future extremely large telescopes and space missions.



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