Clio: a 5-μm camera for the detection of giant exoplanets

Abstract

We plan to take advantage of the unprecedented combination of low thermal background and high resolution provided by the 6.5m MMT's adaptive secondary mirror, to target the 3-5 micron atmospheric window where giant exoplanets are expected to be anomalously bright. We are in the process of building a 3-5 micron camera that we will use to carry out a survey to characterize the prevalence and distribution of giant planets around nearby, Sun-like stars. Sensitivity estimates show that for a 1 Gyr old G0V primary at 10 pc, we expect to detect 5 M_Jupiter and 15 M_Jupiter exoplanets at angular separations greater than 0.45-2.1" and 0.2-1.2" respectively. Monte Carlo simulations based on these sensitivity estimates and a sample of 80 young (<1 Gyr), nearby (<20 pc) M0V-F0V stars, predict the detection of 15±3 exoplanets with masses of 4-15 M_Jupiter and separations of 17-50 AU. Construction of the camera is currently underway and on-telescope testing is expected in the Fall 2004-Winter 2005.