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(abridged) Context. The origin of hot exozodiacal dust and its connection with outer dust reservoirs remains unclear. Aims. We aim to explore the possible connection between hot exozodiacal dust and warm dust reservoirs (> 100 K) in asteroid belts. Methods. We use precision near-infrared interferometry with VLTI/PIONIER to search for resolved emission at H band around a selected sample of nearby stars. Results. Our observations reveal the presence of resolved near-infrared emission around 17 out of 52 stars, four of which are shown to be due to a previously unknown stellar companion. The 13 other H-band excesses are thought to originate from the thermal emission of hot dust grains. Taking into account earlier PIONIER observations, and after reevaluating the warm dust content of all our PIONIER targets through spectral energy distribution modeling, we find a detection rate of 17.1(+8.1)(-4.6)% for H-band excess around main sequence stars hosting warm dust belts, which is statistically compatible with the occurrence rate of 14.6(+4.3)(-2.8)% found around stars showing no signs of warm dust. After correcting for the sensitivity loss due to partly unresolved hot disks, under the assumption that they are arranged in a thin ring around their sublimation radius, we however find tentative evidence at the 3{\sigma} level that H-band excesses around stars with outer dust reservoirs (warm or cold) could be statistically larger than H-band excesses around stars with no detectable outer dust. Conclusions. Our observations do not suggest a direct connection between warm and hot dust populations, at the sensitivity level of the considered instruments, although they bring to light a possible correlation between the level of H-band excesses and the presence of outer dust reservoirs in general., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) enables nulling interferometric observations across the N band (8 to 13 um) to suppress a star's bright light and probe for faint circumstellar emission. We present and statistically analyze the results from the LBTI/HOSTS (Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems) survey for exozodiacal dust. By comparing our measurements to model predictions based on the Solar zodiacal dust in the N band, we estimate a 1 sigma median sensitivity of 23 zodis for early type stars and 48 zodis for Sun-like stars, where 1 zodi is the surface density of habitable zone (HZ) dust in the Solar system. Of the 38 stars observed, 10 show significant excess. A clear correlation of our detections with the presence of cold dust in the systems was found, but none with the stellar spectral type or age. The majority of Sun-like stars have relatively low HZ dust levels (best-fit median: 3 zodis, 1 sigma upper limit: 9 zodis, 95% confidence: 27 zodis based on our N band measurements), while ~20% are significantly more dusty. The Solar system's HZ dust content is consistent with being typical. Our median HZ dust level would not be a major limitation to the direct imaging search for Earth-like exoplanets, but more precise constraints are still required, in particular to evaluate the impact of exozodiacal dust for the spectroscopic characterization of imaged exo-Earth candidates., Comment: accepted for publication in AJ

The HOSTS (Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems) survey searches for dust near the habitable zones (HZs) around nearby, bright main sequence stars. We use nulling interferometry in N band to suppress the bright stellar light and to probe for low levels of HZ dust around the 30 stars observed so far. Our overall detection rate is 18%, including four new detections, among which are the first three around Sun-like stars and the first two around stars without any previously known circumstellar dust. The inferred occurrence rates are comparable for early type and Sun-like stars, but decrease from 60 (+16/-21)% for stars with previously detected cold dust to 8 (+10/-3)% for stars without such excess, confirming earlier results at higher sensitivity. For completed observations on individual stars, our sensitivity is five to ten times better than previous results. Assuming a lognormal excess luminosity function, we put upper limits on the median HZ dust level of 13 zodis (95% confidence) for a sample of stars without cold dust and of 26 zodis when focussing on Sun-like stars without cold dust. However, our data suggest that a more complex luminosity function may be more appropriate. For stars without detectable LBTI excess, our upper limits are almost reduced by a factor of two, demonstrating the strength of LBTI target vetting for future exo-Earth imaging missions. Our statistics are so far limited and extending the survey is critical to inform the design of future exo-Earth imaging surveys., 26 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication by AJ

The characterization of exozodiacal light emission is both important for the understanding of planetary systems evolution and for the preparation of future space missions aiming to characterize low mass planets in the habitable zone of nearby main sequence stars. The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) exozodi survey aims at providing a ten-fold improvement over current state of the art, measuring dust emission levels down to a typical accuracy of ~12 zodis per star, for a representative ensemble of ~30+ high priority targets. Such measurements promise to yield a final accuracy of about 2 zodis on the median exozodi level of the targets sample. Reaching a 1 σ measurement uncertainty of 12 zodis per star corresponds to measuring interferometric cancellation (“null”) levels, i.e visibilities at the few 100 ppm uncertainty level. We discuss here the challenges posed by making such high accuracy mid-infrared visibility measurements from the ground and present the methodology we developed for achieving current best levels of 500 ppm or so. We also discuss current limitations and plans for enhanced exozodi observations over the next few years at LBTI.

The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) is a versatile instrument designed for high-angular resolution and high-contrast infrared imaging (1.5-13 microns). In this paper, we focus on the mid-infrared (8-13 microns) nulling mode and present its theory of operation, data reduction, and on-sky performance as of the end of the commissioning phase in March 2015. With an interferometric baseline of 14.4 meters, the LBTI nuller is specifically tuned to resolve the habitable zone of nearby main-sequence stars, where warm exozodiacal dust emission peaks. Measuring the exozodi luminosity function of nearby main-sequence stars is a key milestone to prepare for future exoEarth direct imaging instruments. Thanks to recent progress in wavefront control and phase stabilization, as well as in data reduction techniques, the LBTI demonstrated in February 2015 a calibrated null accuracy of 0.05% over a three-hour long observing sequence on the bright nearby A3V star beta Leo. This is equivalent to an exozodiacal disk density of 15 to 30 zodi for a Sun-like star located at 10pc, depending on the adopted disk model. This result sets a new record for high-contrast mid-infrared interferometric imaging and opens a new window on the study of planetary systems., 17 pages, 18 figures (resubmitted to ApJ with referee's comments)

Context: Extended circumstellar emission has been detected within a few 100 milli-arcsec around > 10% of nearby main sequence stars using near-infrared interferometry. Follow-up observations using other techniques, should they yield similar results or non-detections, can provide strong constraints on the origin of the emission. They can also reveal the variability of the phenomenon. Aims: We aim to demonstrate the persistence of the phenomenon over time scales of a few years and to search for variability of our previously detected excesses. Methods: Using VLTI/PIONIER in H band we have carried out multi-epoch observations of the stars for which a near-infrared excess was previously detected with the same observing technique and instrument. The detection rates and distribution of the excesses from our original survey and the follow-up observations are compared statistically. A search for variability of the excesses in our time series is carried out based on the level of the broadband excesses. Results: In 12 of 16 follow-up observations, an excess is re-detected with a significance of > 2 sigma, and in 7 of 16 follow-up observations significant excess (> 3 sigma) has been re-detected. We statistically demonstrate with very high confidence that the phenomenon persists for the majority of the systems. We also present the first detection of potential variability in two sources. Conclusions: We conclude that the phenomenon responsible for the excesses persists over time scales of a few years for the majority of the systems. However, we also find that variability intrinsic to a target can cause it to have no significant excess at the time of a specific observation., A&A, in press

We report on the first nulling interferometric observations with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), resolving the N' band (9.81 - 12.41 um) emission around the nearby main-sequence star eta Crv (F2V, 1-2 Gyr). The measured source null depth amounts to 4.40% +/- 0.35% over a field-of-view of 140 mas in radius (~2.6\,AU at the distance of eta Corvi) and shows no significant variation over 35{\deg} of sky rotation. This relatively low null is unexpected given the total disk to star flux ratio measured by Spitzer/IRS (~23% across the N' band), suggesting that a significant fraction of the dust lies within the central nulled response of the LBTI (79 mas or 1.4 AU). Modeling of the warm disk shows that it cannot resemble a scaled version of the Solar zodiacal cloud, unless it is almost perpendicular to the outer disk imaged by Herschel. It is more likely that the inner and outer disks are coplanar and the warm dust is located at a distance of 0.5-1.0 AU, significantly closer than previously predicted by models of the IRS spectrum (~3 AU). The predicted disk sizes can be reconciled if the warm disk is not centrosymmetric, or if the dust particles are dominated by very small grains. Both possibilities hint that a recent collision has produced much of the dust. Finally, we discuss the implications for the presence of dust at the distance where the insolation is the same as Earth's (2.3 AU)., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Context. Detecting and characterizing circumstellar dust is a way to study the architecture and evolution of planetary systems. Cold dust in debris disks only traces the outer regions. Warm and hot exozodiacal dust needs to be studied in order to trace regions close to the habitable zone. Aims. We aim to determine the prevalence and to constrain the properties of hot exozodiacal dust around nearby main-sequence stars. Methods. We search a magnitude limited (H < 5) sample of 92 stars for bright exozodiacal dust using our VLTI visitor instrument PIONIER in the H-band. We derive statistics of the detection rate with respect to parameters such as the stellar spectral type and age or the presence of a debris disk in the outer regions of the systems. We derive more robust statistics by combining our sample with the results from our CHARA/FLUOR survey in the K-band. In addition, our spectrally dispersed data allows us to put constraints on the emission mechanism and the dust properties in the detected systems. Results. We find an over-all detection rate of bright exozodiacal dust in the H-band of 11% (9 out of 85 targets) and three tentative detections. The detection rate decreases from early type to late type stars and increases with the age of the host star. We do not confirm the tentative correlation between the presence of cold and hot dust found in our earlier analysis of the FLUOR sample alone. Our spectrally dispersed data suggest that either the dust is extremely hot or the emission is dominated by the scattered light in most cases. The implications of our results for the target selection of future terrestrial planet finding missions using direct imaging are discussed., 20 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables, updated references and minor changes to the text, accepted for publication in A&A

The main goal of the EXOZODI survey is to detect and characterize circumstellar dust and to propose the first statistical study of exozodiacal disks in the near-infrared using telescopes in both hemispheres. For this purpose, Ertel et al. have conducted in 2012 a survey of nearby main sequence stars with VLTI/PIONIER to search for the presence of circumstellar dust. This survey, carried out during 12 nights, comprises about 100 stars. For each star, we obtained typically three OBs and we searched for circumstellar emission based on the measurement of squared visibilities at short baselines. A drop in the measured visibilities with respect to the expected photospheric visibility indicates the presence of resolved emission around the target star. It is however generally not possible to conclude on the morphology of the detected emission based solely on the squared visibilities. Here, we focus on closure phases to search for faint companions around the whole sample. Indeed, to derive robust statistics on the occurrence rate of bright exozodiacal disks, we need to discriminate between companions and disks. For this reason, the main goal of this paper is to discriminate between circumstellar disks (which show no closure phase provided that they are point-symmetric) and faint companions (point-like sources, creating non-zero closure phases). We also aim to reveal new companions that do not necessarily produce a significant signature in the squared visibilities, as the signature of the companion may show up more prominently in the closure phases. In this process, we reveal four new stellar companions with contrasts ranging from 2% to 95% (i.e., up to equal flux binaries). We also tentatively detect faint companions around one other target that will require follow-up observations to be confirmed or infirmed. We discuss the implications of these discoveries on the results of the exozodi survey., To appear in SPIE proceedings vol. 9146

Little is presently known about the hot (>300 K) dust component of debris disks surrounding main sequence stars, similar to the zodiacal dust cloud found in the inner solar system. While extensive surveys have been carried out from space, the majority of detections have surprisingly come from the ground, where near infrared interferometric observations have recently revealed small (~1%) resolved excesses around a dozen nearby main sequence stars. Most of these results have come from the CHARA array "FLUOR" instrument (Mt. Wilson, CA), which has demonstrated the best sensitivity worldwide so far for this type of studies, and has carried out an initial survey of ~40 stars. In order to further understand the origin of this "hot dust phenomenon", we will extend this initial survey to a larger number of stars and lower excess detection limits, i.e. higher visibility accuracy providing higher contrast measurements. To this end, two major instrumental developments are underway at CHARA. The first one aims at improving FLUOR's sensitivity to a median K-band magnitude limit of 5 (making 200 targets available). The second development is based on a method that we recently developed for accurate (better than 0.1%) null depth measurements of stars, and that can be extended to regular interferometric visibility measurements.