The Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics System (SCExAO) is Subaru Telescope’s extreme-AO platform, optimized for exoplanet and circumstellar disks observations. SCExAO is both a science instrument and a technology development platform, aimed at supporting the maturation of promising exoplanet observation approaches and their rapid on-sky deployment.
I will provide an update of its current and upcoming capabilities, and highlight three interconnected areas of current research : (1) self-calibrating high contrast imaging/spectroscopy, where real-time telemetry from wavefront sensor(s) and/or focal plane image(s) provides an accurate estimate of residual starlight for PSF subtraction, (2) astrophotonics using photonic devices for optimal extraction of exoplanet light for efficient spectroscopy, and (3) cm/s-level radial velocity for revealing Earth-like planets around nearby bright stars and measuring their mass.
