Coronagraphic Search for Extra-Solar Planets around epsilon Eri and Vega

Itoh, Yoichi; Oasa, Yumiko; Fukagawa, Misato

Coronagraphic Search for Extra-Solar Planets around epsilon Eri and Vega

Authors

Itoh, Yoichi

Oasa, Yumiko

Fukagawa, Misato

Description

We present the results of a coronagraphic imaging search for extra-solar planets around the young main-sequence stars, epsilon Eri and Vega. Concentrating the stellar light into the core of the point spread function by the adaptive optic system and blocking the core by the occulting mask in the coronagraph, we have achieved the highest sensitivity for point sources in close vicinity of the both central stars. Nonetheless we had no confidential detection of a point source around the stars. The observations give the upper limits on the masses of the planets to 4 -- 6 Jupiter mass and 5 -- 10 Jupiter mass at a few arcsecond from epsilon Eri and Vega, respectively. Diffuse structures are also not detected around both stars.
ApJ accepted