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P. C. Vener (Loyola College of Maryland / STScI), J. Brown, D. Bennum (U. Nevada - Reno), D. Rothstein (Haverford College), M. Gurwell, P. Ho (Harvard CfA/SAO), G. Schneider (U. Arizona), A. Schultz (STScI), D. Backman (NASA-Ames / F&M College)
We report preliminary results from an HST/NICMOS search for planetary debris and companions around six nearby stars. Each target system has a far-IR excess indicating thermal emission from optically thin dust. Observations were obtained in two modes, direct imaging and with the NICMOS Camera 2 coronagraphic mode. Data reduction and analysis were performed using both IRAF and the IDL/IDP3 software routines developed by the NICMOS IDT. Our tenative results place limits on the detectability of disks via near-IR scattered light as well as on the brightness and location of point-source companions.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: backman@ssa1.arc.nasa.gov