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We present a high-contrast imaging survey of intermediate-mass (1.75–4.5 M⊙) stars to search the most extreme stellar binaries, i.e. for the lowest mass stellar companions. Using adaptive optics at the Lick and Gemini observatories, we observed 169 stars and detected 24 candidates companions, 16 of which are newly discovered, and all but three are likely or confirmed physical companions. Despite obtaining sensitivity down to the substellar limit for 75 per cent of our sample, we do not detect any companion below 0.3 M⊙, strongly suggesting that the distribution of stellar companions is truncated at a mass ratio of qmin ≳ 0.075. Combining our results with known brown dwarf companions, we identify a low-mass companion desert to intermediate-mass stars in the range 0.02 ≲ q ≲ 0.05, which quantitatively matches the known brown dwarf desert among solar-type stars. We conclude that the formation mechanism for multiple systems operates in a largely scale-invariant manner and precludes the formation of extremely uneven systems, likely because the components of a protobinary accrete most of their mass after the initial cloud fragmentation. Similarly, the mechanism to form ‘planetary’ (q ≲ 0.02) companions likely scales linearly with stellar mass, probably as a result of the correlation between the masses of stars and their protoplanetary discs. Finally, we predict the existence of a sizable population of brown dwarf companions to low-mass stars and of a rising population of planetary-mass objects towards ${\approx}1\,M_\mathrm{Jup}$ around solar-type stars. Improvements on current instrumentation will test these predictions.

 

The MMT Adaptive optics exoPlanet characterization System (MAPS) is an exoplanet characterization program that encompasses instrument development, observational science, and education. The instrument we are developing for the 6.5m MMT observatory is multi-faceted, including a refurbished 336-actuator adaptive secondary mirror (ASM); two pyramid wavefront sensors (PyWFS's); a 1-kHz adaptive optics (AO) control loop; a high-resolution and long-wavelength upgrade to the Arizona infraRed Imager and Echelle Spectrograph (ARIES); and a new-AO-optimized upgrade to the MMT-sensitive polarimeter (MMT-Pol). With the completed MAPS instrument, we will execute a 60-night science program to characterize the atmospheric composition and dynamics of ~50-100 planets around other stars. The project is approaching first light, anticipated for Summer/Fall of 2022. With the electrical and optical tests complete and passing the review milestone for the ASM's development, it is currently being tuned. The PyWFS's are being built and integrated in their respective labs: the visible-light PyWFS at the University of Arizona (UA), and the infrared PyWFS at the University of Toronto (UT). The top-level AO control software is being developed at UA, with an on-sky calibration algorithm being developed at UT. ARIES development continues at UA, and MMT-Pol development is at the University of Minnesota. The science and education programs are in planning and preparation. We will present the design and development of the entire MAPS instrument and project, including an overview of lab results and next steps. 

The HR 2562 system is a rare case where a brown dwarf companion resides in a cleared inner hole of a debris disk, offering invaluable opportunities to study the dynamical interaction between a substellar companion and a dusty disk. We present the first ALMA observation of the system as well as the continued Gemini Planet Imager monitoring of the companion’s orbit with six new epochs from 2016 to 2018. We update the orbital fit, and in combination with absolute astrometry from GAIA, place a 3σupper limit of 18.5M_Jon the companion’s mass. To interpret the ALMA observations, we used radiative transfer modeling to determine the disk properties. We find that the disk is well resolved and nearly edge-on. While the misalignment angle between the disk and the orbit is weakly constrained, due to the short orbital arc available, the data strongly support a (near) coplanar geometry for the system. Furthermore, we find that the models that describe the ALMA data best have inner radii that are close to the companion’s semimajor axis. Including a posteriori knowledge of the system’s SED further narrows the constraints on the disk’s inner radius and places it at a location that is in reasonable agreement with (possibly interior to) predictions from existing dynamical models of disk truncation by an interior substellar companion. HR 2562 has the potential over the next few years to become a new test bed for dynamical interaction between a debris disk and a substellar companion.

 

We are upgrading and refurbishing the first-generation adaptive-secondary mirror (ASM)-based AO system on the 6.5-m MMT in Arizona, in an NSF MSIP-funded program that will create a unique facility specialized for exoplanet characterization. This update includes a third-generation ASM with embedded electronics for low power consumption, two pyramid wavefront sensors (optical and near-IR), and an upgraded ARIES science camera for high-resolution spectroscopy (HRS) from 1-5 μm and MMT-POL science camera for sensitive polarization mapping. Digital electronics have been incorporated into each of the 336 actuators, simplifying hub-level electronics and reducing the total power to 300 W, down from 1800 W in the legacy system — reducing cooling requirements from active coolant to passive ambient cooling. An improved internal control law allows for electronic damping and a faster response. The dual pyramid wavefront sensors allow for a choice between optical or IR wavefront sensing depending on guide star magnitude, color, and extinction. The HRS upgrade to ARIES enables crosscorrelation of molecular templates to extract atmospheric parameters of exoplanets. The combination of these upgrades creates a workhorse instrument for exoplanet characterization via AO and HRS to separate planets from their host stars, with broad wavelength coverage and polarization to probe a range of molecular species in exoplanet atmospheres.