GPI 2.0: upgrading the Gemini Planet Imager
Jeffrey Chilcote, Quinn Konopacky, Robert J. De Rosa, Randall Hamper, Bruce Macintosh, Christian Marois, Marshall D. Perrin, Dmitry Savransky, Rémi Soummer, Jean‐Pierre Véran, Guido Agapito, Arlene Aleman, Mark Ammons, Marco Bonaglia, Marc-André Boucher, Maeve Curliss, Jennifer Dunn, Simone Esposito, Guillaume Filion, Joeleff Fitzsimmons, Isabel Kain, Dan Kerley, Jean-Thomas Landry, Olivier Lardière, Marie Lemoine-Busserolle, Duan Li, Mary Anne Limbach, Alex Madurowicz, Jérôme Maîre, Mamadou N’Diaye, E. Nielsen, Lisa Poyneer, Laurent Pueyo, Kaitlyn Summey, Coleman Thomas
Abstract
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a dedicated high-contrast imaging facility designed for the direct detection and characterization of young Jupiter mass exoplanets. After six yrs of operation at Gemini South, GPI has helped establish that Jovian planets are rare at wide separations, but have higher occurrence rates at small separations. This motivates an upgrade of GPI to achieve deeper contrasts, especially at small inner working angles, while leveraging its current capabilities. GPI has been funded to undergo a major science-driven upgrade as part of a relocation to Gemini North (GN). Gemini plans to remove GPI at the end of 2020A. We present the status of the proposed upgrades to GPI including a EMCCD-based pyramid wavefront sensor, broadband low spectral resolution prisms and new apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph designs. We discuss the expected performance improvements in the context of GPI 2.0's enhanced science capabilities which are scheduled to be made available at GN in 2022.