Direct imaging: NACO and SPHERE

Here are some examples of instruments used for direct imaging of exoplanets:

NACO: Nasmyth Adaptive Optics ? System + COudé Near-Infrared CAmera

Since 2021, NACO has been installed on an ESO 8.2 m telescope. It combines an extreme adaptive optics ? system, NAOS, and a spectro-imager comprising a coronagraph and a polarimeter, CONICA. It works at between 1 and 5 microns ?  between the near infrared and mid infrared. It obtained the first image of an exoplanet.

The main aim of SPHERE is direct imaging of exoplanets. HIP65426b, the first exoplanet detected by SPHERE, is a young, massive planet (6 to 12 times the mass of Jupiter) orbiting a bright and rapidly rotating star in the Scorpius-Centaurus star association.

Planet beta Pictoris b observed by NACO
The planet’s mass is about 9 times the mass of Jupiter.
(ESO)

SPHERE: Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch

Scientific operations with the SPHERE instrument began in 2015 on one of the 8.2 m telescopes at ESO. It works in the visible and near infrared spectra and combines extreme adaptive optics ? , a coronagraph and differential imaging to obtain photometric, polarimetric and spectroscopic measurements. It can take several images simultaneously with different methods, for example in two filters with different wavelengths.

SPHERE
(ESO)
Exoplanet HIP65426
The light from the central star (A) is masked by a coronagraph
(ESO/SPHERE Consortium/G. Chauvin et al.)