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PULSE is a new concept to augment the currently operating 5.1-m Hale PALM-3000 exoplanet adaptive optics system with an ultraviolet Rayleigh laser and associated wavefront sensor. By using an ultraviolet laser to measure the high spatial and temporal order turbulence near the telescope aperture, where it dominates, one can extend the faintness limit of natural guide stars needed by PALM-3000. Initial simulations indicate that very-high infrared contrast ratios and good visible-light adaptive optics performance will be achieved by such an upgraded system on stars as faint as mV = 16-17 using an optimized low-order NGS sensor. This will enable direct imaging searches for, and subsequent characterization of, companions around cool, low-mass stars for the first time, as well as routine visible-light imaging twice as sharp as HST for fainter targets. PULSE will reuse the laser and wavefront sensor technologies developed for the automated Robo-AO laser system currently operating at the Palomar 60-inch telescope, as well as take advantage of pending optimization of low-order NGS wavefront sensing and planned new interfaces to the PALM-3000 real-time reconstruction computer. The laser measurements will drive the 3,388 active element high-order deformable mirror in open-loop, while an adaptive optics sharpened faint natural source will be measured by the current PALM-3000 wavefront sensor in its lowest spatial sampling mode, with commands sent in closed-loop to the 241 active element low-order deformable mirror. The natural guide star loop corrects for both the relatively weak low-order high-altitude turbulence as well as functioning as both the tip-tilt and low-bandwidth `truth' sensor loops in a traditional laser adaptive optics system., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 table

Robo-AO, a fully autonomous, laser guide star adaptive optics and science system, is being commissioned at Palomar Observatory's 60-inch telescope. Here we discuss the instrument, scientific goals and results of initial on-sky operation., Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=AO-2011-AWA2

The direct detection of binary systems in wide-field surveys is limited by the size of the stars' point-spread-functions (PSFs). A search for elongated objects can find closer companions, but is limited by the precision to which the PSF shape can be calibrated for individual stars. We have developed the BinaryFinder algorithm to search for close binaries by using precision measurements of PSF ellipticity across wide-field survey images. We show that the algorithm is capable of reliably detecting binary systems down to approximately 1/5 of the seeing limit, and can directly measure the systems' position angles, separations and contrast ratios. To verify the algorithm's performance we evaluated 100,000 objects in Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) wide-field-survey data for signs of binarity, and then used the Robo-AO robotic laser adaptive optics system to verify the parameters of 44 high-confidence targets. We show that BinaryFinder correctly predicts the presence of close companions with a <5% false-positive rate, measures the detected binaries' position angles within 2 degrees and separations within 25%, and weakly constrains their contrast ratios. When applied to the full PTF dataset, we estimate that BinaryFinder will discover and characterize ~450,000 physically-associated binary systems with separations <2 arcseconds and magnitudes brighter than R=18. New wide-field synoptic surveys with high sensitivity and sub-arcsecond angular resolution, such as LSST, will allow BinaryFinder to reliably detect millions of very faint binary systems with separations as small as 0.1 arcseconds., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, submitted to ApJ

The first of a new generation of high actuator density AO systems developed for large telescopes, PALM-3000 is optimized for high-contrast exoplanet science but will support operation with natural guide stars as faint as V ~ 18. PALM-3000 began commissioning in June 2011 on the Palomar 200" telescope and has to date over 60 nights of observing. The AO system consists of two Xinetics deformable mirrors, one with 66 by 66 actuators and another with 21 by 21 actuators, a Shack-Hartman WFS with four pupil sampling modes (ranging from 64 to 8 samples across the pupil), and a full vector matrix multiply real-time system capable of running at 2KHz frame rates. We present the details of the completed system, and initial results. Operating at 2 kHz with 8.3cm pupil sampling on-sky, we have achieved a K-band Strehl ratio as high as 84% in ~1.0 arcsecond visible seeing.

Robo-AO is the first astronomical laser guide star adaptive optics (AO) system designed to operate completely independent of human supervision. A single computer commands the AO system, the laser guide star, visible and near-infrared science cameras (which double as tip-tip sensors), the telescope, and other instrument functions. Autonomous startup and shutdown sequences as well as concatenated visible observations were demonstrated in late 2011. The fully robotic software is currently operating during a month long demonstration of Robo-AO at the Palomar Observatory 60-inch telescope.

We present three new eclipsing white-dwarf / M-dwarf binary systems discovered during a search for transiting planets around M-dwarfs. Unlike most known eclipsing systems of this type, the optical and infrared emission is dominated by the M-dwarf components, and the systems have optical colors and discovery light curves consistent with being Jupiter-radius transiting planets around early M-dwarfs. We detail the PTF/M-dwarf transiting planet survey, part of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We present a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)-based box-least-squares search for transits that runs approximately 8X faster than similar algorithms implemented on general purpose systems. For the discovered systems, we decompose low-resolution spectra of the systems into white-dwarf and M-dwarf components, and use radial velocity measurements and cooling models to estimate masses and radii for the white dwarfs. The systems are compact, with periods between 0.35 and 0.45 days and semimajor axes of approximately 2 solar radii (0.01 AU). We use the Robo-AO laser guide star adaptive optics system to tentatively identify one of the objects as a triple system. We also use high-cadence photometry to put an upper limit on the white dwarf radius of 0.025 solar radii (95% confidence) in one of the systems. We estimate that 0.08% (90% confidence) of M-dwarfs are in these short-period, post-common-envelope white-dwarf / M-dwarf binaries where the optical light is dominated by the M-dwarf. Similar eclipsing binary systems can have arbitrarily small eclipse depths in red bands and generate plausible small-planet-transit light curves. As such, these systems are a source of false positives for M-dwarf transiting planet searches. We present several ways to rapidly distinguish these binaries from transiting planet systems., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, submitted to ApJ

The PALM-3000 upgrade to the Palomar Adaptive Optics system will deliver extreme adaptive optics correction to a suite of three infrared and visible instruments on the 5.1 meter Hale telescope. PALM-3000 uses a 3388-actuator tweeter and a 241-actuator woofer deformable mirror, a wavefront sensor with selectable pupil sampling, and an innovative wavefront control computer based on a cluster of 17 graphics processing units to correct wavefront aberrations at scales as fine as 8.1 cm at the telescope pupil using natural guide stars. Many components of the system, including the science instruments and a post-coronagraphic calibration wavefront sensor, have already been commissioned on the sky. Results from a laboratory testbed used to characterize the remaining new components and verify all interfaces are reported. Deployment to Palomar Observatory is planned August 2010, with first light expected in early 2011.

The PALM-3000 upgrade to the Palomar Adaptive Optics system on the 5.1 meter Hale telescope will deliver extreme adaptive optics correction in near-infrared wavelengths and diffraction-limited images in visible wavelengths. PALM-3000 will use a 3388-actuator tweeter and a 241-actuator woofer deformable mirror, a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor with selectable pupil sampling, and an innovative wavefront control computer based on a cluster of 17 graphics processing units to correct wavefront aberrations at scales as fine as 8.1 cm at the telescope pupil using natural guide stars. The system is currently undergoing integration and testing, with deployment at Palomar Observatory planned in early 2011. We present the detailed design of key aspects of the adaptive optics system, and the current status of the deformable mirror characterization, wavefront sensor performance, and testbed activities.

We describe results from the first astronomical adaptive optics system to use multiple laser guide stars, located at the 6.5-m MMT telescope in Arizona. Its initial operational mode, ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO), provides uniform stellar wavefront correction within the 2 arc minute diameter laser beacon constellation, reducing the stellar image widths by as much as 53%, from 0.70 to 0.33 arc seconds at lambda = 2.14 microns. GLAO is achieved by applying a correction to the telescope's adaptive secondary mirror that is an average of wavefront measurements from five laser beacons supplemented with image motion from a faint stellar source. Optimization of the adaptive optics system in subsequent commissioning runs will further improve correction performance where it is predicted to deliver 0.1 to 0.2 arc second resolution in the near-infrared during a majority of seeing conditions., Comment: 13 pages, 1 table, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal. Expected March 2009

A multi-laser adaptive optics system, at the 6.5 m MMT telescope, has been undergoing commissioning in preparation for wide-field, partially corrected as well as narrow-field, diffraction limited science observations in the thermal and near infrared. After several delays due to bad weather, we have successfully closed the full high order ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO) control loop for the first time in February 2008 using five Rayleigh laser guide stars and a single tilt star. Characterization and automated correction of static aberrations such as non-common path errors were addressed in May 2008. Calibration measurements in preparation for laser tomography adaptive optics (LTAO) operation are planned for the fall of 2008 along with the start of shared-risk GLAO science observations. We present the results of GLAO observations with the PISCES imager, a 1 - 2.5 µm camera with a field of view of 110 arc seconds. The status of the remaining GLAO commissioning work is also reviewed. Finally, we present plans for commissioning work to implement the LTAO operating mode of the system.

Deployed as a multi-user shared facility on the 5.1 meter Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory, the PALM-3000 highorder upgrade to the successful Palomar Adaptive Optics System will deliver extreme AO correction in the near-infrared, and diffraction-limited images down to visible wavelengths, using both natural and sodium laser guide stars. Wavefront control will be provided by two deformable mirrors, a 3368 active actuator woofer and 349 active actuator tweeter, controlled at up to 3 kHz using an innovative wavefront processor based on a cluster of 17 graphics processing units. A Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor with selectable pupil sampling will provide high-order wavefront sensing, while an infrared tip/tilt sensor and visible truth wavefront sensor will provide low-order LGS control. Four back-end instruments are planned at first light: the PHARO near-infrared camera/spectrograph, the SWIFT visible light integral field spectrograph, Project 1640, a near-infrared coronagraphic integral field spectrograph, and 888Cam, a high-resolution visible light imager.

Observational tests of ground layer wavefront recovery have been made in open loop using a constellation of four natural guide stars at the 1.55 m Kuiper telescope in Arizona. Such tests explore the effectiveness of wide-field seeing improvement by correction of low-lying atmospheric turbulence with ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO). The wavefronts from the four stars were measured simultaneously on a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (WFS). The WFS placed a 5 x 5 array of square subapertures across the pupil of the telescope, allowing for wavefront reconstruction up to the fifth radial Zernike order. We find that the wavefront aberration in each star can be roughly halved by subtracting the average of the wavefronts from the other three stars. Wavefront correction on this basis leads to a reduction in width of the seeing-limited stellar image by up to a factor of 3, with image sharpening effective from the visible to near infrared wavelengths over a field of at least 2 arc minutes. We conclude that GLAO correction will be a valuable tool that can increase resolution and spectrographic throughput across a broad range of seeing-limited observations., Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Astrophys. J

Over the past several years, experiments in adaptive optics involving multiple natural and laser guide stars have been carried out at the 1.55 m Kuiper telescope and the 6.5 m MMT telescope. The astronomical imaging improvement anticipated from both ground-layer and tomographic adaptive optics has been calculated. Ground-layer adaptive optics will reduce the effects of atmospheric seeing, increasing the resolution and sensitivity of astronomical observations over wide fields. Tomographic adaptive optics will provide diffraction-limited imaging along a single line of sight, increasing the amount of sky coverage available to adaptive optics correction.A new facility class wavefront sensor has been deployed at the MMT which will support closed-loop adaptive optics correction using a constellation of five Rayleigh laser guide stars and the deformable F/15 secondary mirror. The adaptive optics control loop was closed for the first time around the focus signal from all five laser signals in July of 2007, demonstrating that the system is working properly. It is anticipated that the full high-order ground-layer adaptive optics loop, controlled by the laser signals in conjunction with a tip/tilt natural guide star, will be closed in September 2007, with the imaging performance delivered by the system optimized and evaluated.The work here is intended to be both its own productive scientific endeavor for the MMT, but also as a proof of concept for the advanced adaptive optics systems designed to support observing at the Large Binocular Telescope and future extremely large telescopes such as the Giant Magellan Telescope.