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Session 62 - Workshop on the Future of Antarctic Astrophysics - II.
Topical, Oral session, Wednesday, June 10
Presidio,
Direct Detection of Planets and Brown Dwarfs from Antarctica.
The low near-infrared background of the Antarctic sky makes it a promising site for direct detection of warm supermassive planets and brown dwarfs. However, this will be offset by the likely small size of Antarctic telescopes relative to other sites, and the presence of methane bands in brown dwarf spectra at those very wavelengths at which the antarctic background is most advantageous. We present sensitivity calculations comparing Antarctic and conventional telescopes in field and companion searches. In field surveys of young star-forming regions Antarctic telescopes might have some advantages, while sensitivity to brown dwarf or planetary companions to nearby stars scales sharply with telescope size and seeing and hence favors larger telescopes at other sites.
