Celebrating two decades of SPHERE challenges and achievements

Reaching new heights with 100 consortium publications including the early exoplanet demographics release.


The SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exo-planet REsearch) planet imager [1], currently installed and operating at the ESO Very Large Telescope in Chile, aims at imaging and characterizing giant exoplanets and planet-forming disks around stars close to the Sun. This project represents an incredible scientific, technological and human endeavour and accomplishment that started about twenty year ago. Relying on tight specifications and sophisticated developments brought to maturity, including extreme adaptive optics, coronagraphy, polarimetry, differential imaging and integral field spectroscopy, SPHERE has been designed and built by a consortium of twelve major European institutes [2] over more than a decade to achieve unprecedented performances on sky and meet its scientific objectives. The Figure 1 shows key phases of this design and construction phase.

Top-left: SPHERE at the Nasmyth platform of the Very Large Telescope. Top-right: SPHERE sub-systems: SAXO, the extreme adaptive optics system, ZIMPOL, the Zurich Imaging Polarimeter, IFS, the integral field spectrograph, and IRDIS, the near-infrared imager and spectrograph. Bottom: Pictures from the first Light of SPHERE in Spring 2014 and additional implementation: truck and SPHERE heading to UT3, first Light in the control room, installation of the third toric mirror, and fixing the SPHERE enclosure.


Following its first light in May 2014, SPHERE has been offered to the European community, and rapidly obtained breakthrough results in the domain of planetary formation, exoplanet demographics and physical properties, and on the characterization of minor bodies of the solar system, the environment of evolved stars, and even the central engine of active galactic nuclei [3]. The SPHERE consortium played a major role in this success, and is celebrating today its 100th scientific publication [4], together with the release of a series of three articles in the Astronomy & Astrophysics Journal presenting the first phase of the exoplanet demographics survey beyond 10 au that is Saturn’s orbit [5]. This achievement represents an important milestone for the SPHERE consortium to reward all individual members and institutes who successfully contributed to each critical step of the project, from the design phase, and the construction, up to the scientific exploitation over the last five years. It allowed training a new generation of young engineers and scientists that allows Europe to be at the edge of this exciting field. It also stands for maintaining SPHERE and its rich and versatile community at the front of high-contrast imaging developments to keep its leadership, and prepare the bright future of ground-based observations on the class of 10 to 40m large telescopes.

Gallery of astrophysical results from exoplanets, disks, young and evolved stars published by the SPHERE consortium since the SPHERE first light in May 2014.

The SPHERE consortium

IPAG
The Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble is the leading institute of the European consortium SPHERE. The institute had a decisive role from the initial phases of the project for the scientific motivation and the proposal of the main lines of the instrumental concept, for its development and its tests, and of course for its exploitation and promotion towards a large European community. It thus included the PI (Jean-Luc Beuzit), the project manager (Pascal Puget), the scientific manager during the design, production and validation phases (David Mouillet) as well as for the scientific coordination of the consortium for the exploitation of guaranteed time (Gaël Chauvin). During the development, the IPAG directly contributed, in addition to the overall coordination, for the common set (Common Path and Infrastructure) supporting and feeding the other subsystems of a stable, corrected and coronographic beam, overall system integration and testing and contribution to the software package. For the operation phase, beyond the overall coordination of the guaranteed time, the members of IPAG took an active part in the collective operation of the large survey with the coordination of observation and reduction campaigns. data, but also on the collection, optimization and traceability of data reductions, aimed at the greatest number (beyond the consortium) by the SPHERE Data Center service. The main contributors are: Damien Albert, France Allard (associate researcher), Jean-Charles Augereau, Myriam Benisty, Hervé Beust, Mickael Bonnefoy, Julien Charton, Alain Deboulbé, Philippe Delorme, Philippe Feautrier, Julien Girard (associate researcher), Laurence Gluck, Antoine Grandjean, Markus Kasper (associate researcher), Anne-Marie Lagrange, Yves Magnard, Didier Maurel, François Ménard, Nadège Meunier, Julien Milli, Thibaut Moulin, Christophe Pinte, Simon Petrus, Pascal Puget, Patrick Rabou, Laetitia Rodet, Christian Romero, Alain Roux, Eric Stadler, Sylvain Rochat, Elie Sezestre, Marie-Hélène Sztefek and Marion Villenave.

LAM
The Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille has been responsible for developing the InfraRed Dual-band Imager and Spectrograph (IRDIS) sub-system, as well as of the overall system engineering. IRDIS was designed, manufactured, assembled, integrated and verified by the engineers and technicians of the LAM’s Optical, and Mechanical departments. The LAM’s optics R&D team, assisted by the technical services, has also created SPHERE’s high-quality toric mirrors at the heart of the optics of the instrument. In partnership with IPAG, LAM has developed the ultra-fast detectors that equip the wavefront sensor of the adaptive optics system. On the science side, the LAM participated in the SHINE survey and to the DISK survey.
The main involved LAM persons were J.L. Beuzit (PI), H. Le Coroller / C. Moutou (CO-Is), M. Langlois (Instrument Scientist, LAM & CRAL), A. Vigan (Instrument Scientist), K. Dohlen (System & IRDIS Engineer), D. Le Mignant (IRDIS Project Manager), P. Blanchard, M. Carle, A. Costille, C. Gry, E. Hugot, M. Jaquet, M. Llored, F. Madec, A. Origné, M. Saisse, Alice Zurlo.
The CeSAM (Centre de donnéeS Astrophysiques de Marseille) at LAM is also in charge of the SPHERE-DC-DIVA+ database (http://cesam.lam.fr/diva/) that contains the reduced products of the SHINE survey (resp. H. LeCoroller).

ONERA
The French Aerospace Lab (ONERA) has been responsible to build the Sphere eXtreme AO system (SAXO) which allows to correct for atmospheric perturbations and instrumental vibrations at 1.5kHz with an unprecedented accuracy (SAXO main involved persons at ONERA : T Fusco, JF Sauvage and C Petit with the full support of the Optic department). Saxo has also benefited from IPAG, LESIA and ESO support and specific developments (optical and mechanical design as well as Tip tilt mirrors, Real Time Computer and WaveFront sensor cameras specific developments).

INAF
INAF (Padova, Brera, Capodimonte, and Catania Observatories, co-I Massimo Turatto) has been responsible for the design, construction and implementation of the Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS: Project Manager Riccardo Claudi, System Engineer Enrico Giro, Instrument Scientist Raffaele Gratton) and of the Instrument Control Software (responsible Andrea Baruffolo). INAF also largely contributed to the planning and realization of the SHINE survey (co-PI Silvano Desidera and many scientists from Padova, Brera, Catania, Rome and Arcetri Observatories).

MPIA
The Max Planck Institute for Astronomy is the Co-PI institute of SPHERE and has been responsible for creating the data processing pipeline, the atmospheric dispersion correctors, and the detector motion stage for IRDIS.. The main involved persons were Alexei Pavlov, Ole Möller-Nilsson, Rainer Lenzen, Ralf-Rainer Rohloff, and Vianak Naranjo. On the science side, MPIA is involved primarily in the SHINE and DISK GTO programs, the main persons being Markus Feldt (Co-PI), Thomas Henning (Co-I), Wolfgang Brandner, Anne-Lise Maire, Miriam Keppler, and Faustine Cantalloube.

LESIA
The Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique at the Observatoire de Paris-PSL has led the development of the coronagraphic suite, and contributed to the numerical simulations of the instrument in collaboration with Lagrange. The team at LESIA also contributed with the ONERA to the adaptive optics system SAXO, by providing a tip/tilt mirror and a sensor, together with the specifications and tests of the Real Time Computer. LESIA also hosted the assembly and test of SAXO in a clean room. Since the first light in 2014, our team has been strongly involved in scientific exploitation and to the data reduction. The main contributors are: A. Boccaletti, P. Baudoz, J. Baudrand, G. Rousset, R. Galicher, J. T. Buey, A. Sévin, P. Gigan, D. Perret, M. Marteaud, J.-M. Reess.

Lagrange
The laboratoire Lagrange has led the development of the global instrument simulator and the ALC as a part of the NIR coronagraph. Lagrange contributed to the assembly, integration and test of the instrument, to the DRH research effort for IRDIS. It also led the Other Science program and contributed significantly to the data reduction via the data center and participation to data reduction teams. The main contributors are: L. Abe, P. Bendjoya, M. Carbillet, O. Chesneau, J.B. Daban, R. Douet, A. Ferrari, G. Guerri, P. Janin-Potiron, E. Lagadec, R. Ligi, P. Martinez, M. N’Diaye, S. Robbe-Dubois, I. Smith, O. Suarez and F. Vakili

ETH Zürich
ETH Zurich was strongly involved in the concept, design, development, and testing of the Zurich Imaging Polarimeter (ZIMPOL) and the polarimetric concept of the SPHERE common path instrument (main people involved: H.M. Schmid (Co-I), D. Gisler, A. Bazzon, F. Joos, P. Steiner). On the science side, ETH participated primarily in the DISK and REFPLANETS GTO programs (C. Thalmann, E. Buenzli, A. Garufi, H. Avenhaus, N. Engler, S. Hunziker and C. Tschudi), and in the SHINE survey (M. Meyer, S. Quanz).

University of Geneva (Observatory of Geneva)
The astronomy department of the University of Geneva was responsible for the conception, and realization of the SPHERE Calibration Unit, a sub-system that delivers different calibration lights to the 3 science instruments and to the AO system of the Common Path. It also had a share of the systems engineering of the whole instrument by taking responsibility for all internal and external interfaces as well as organizing the final AIT phase. Geneva developed the telescope simulator for the tests and contributed to the development of observation planning tools (main people involved: F. Wildi, R. Dubosson, M. Crausaz, B. Michaud, L. Weber). On the science side, Geneva participated primarily in the SHINE survey and to some extent in the DISK survey (D. Segransan, S. Udry, J. Hagelberg, S. Peretti, E. Rickman).

NOVA
The Dutch Top Research School NOVA was CO-PI on the Zurich Imaging Polarimeter (ZIMPOL) which was built and tested at the NOVA Optical Infrared Astronomical Instrumentation Group in Dwingeloo. C. Dominik and C. Ginski lead the disk science part of the GTO program. The NOVA scientists participated primarily in the disk science and other science GTO programs (T. Stolker, J. de Boer, R. van Holstein, G. Muro-Arena, C. Keller, M. Min, M. Kenworthy, A. Bohn, T. Khouri)


References

►S. Desidera, G. Chauvin, M. Bonavita, S. Messina, H. LeCoroller, T. Schmidt, R. Gratton, C. Lazzoni, M. Meyer, J. Schlieder, A. Cheetham, J. Hagelberg, M. Bonnefoy, M. Feldt, A-M. Lagrange, M. Langlois, A. Vigan, T.G. Tan, F.-J. Hambsch, M. Millward, J. Alcala, S. Benatti, W. Brandner, J. Carson, E. Covino, P. Delorme, V. D’Orazi, M. Janson, E. Rigliaco, J.-L. Beuzit, B. Biller, A. Boccaletti, C. Dominik, F. Cantalloube, C. Fontaniv, R. Galicher, Th. Henning, E. Lagadec, R. Ligi, A-L. Maire, F. Menard, D. Mesa, A. Muller, M. Samland, H.M. Schmid, E. Sissa, M. Turatto, S. Udry, A. Zurlo R. Asensio-Torres, T. Kopytova, E. Rickman, L. Abe, J. Antichi, A. Baruffolo, P. Baudoz, J. Baudrand, P. Blanchard, A. Bazzon, T. Buey, M. Carbillet, M. Carle, J. Charton, E. Cascone, R. Claudi, A. Costille, A. Deboulbe, V. De Caprio, K. Dohlen, D. Fantinel, P. Feautrier, T. Fusco, P. Gigan, E. Giro, D. Gisler, L. Gluck, N. Hubin, E. Hugot, M. Jaquet, M. Kasper, F. Madec, Y. Magnard, P. Martinez, D. Maurel, D. Le Mignant, O. Moller-Nilsson, M. Llored, T. Moulin, A. Origne, A. Pavlov, D. Perret, C. Petit, J. Pragt, P. Puget, P. Rabou, J. Ramon, F. Rigal, S. Rochat, R. Roelfsema, G. Rousset, A. Roux et al. : The SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE)- I Sample definition and target characterization., astro-ph.EP, le 7 mars 2021. Lien vers l’article.

►M. Langlois, R. Gratton, A.-M. Lagrange, P. Delorme, A. Boccaletti, M. Bonnefoy, A.-L. Maire, D. Mesa, G. Chauvin, S. Desidera, A. Vigan, A. Cheetham, J. Hagelberg, M. Feldt, M. Meyer, P. Rubini, H. Le Coroller, F. Cantalloube, B. Biller, M. Bonavita, T. Bhowmik, W. Brandner, S. Daemgen, V. D’Orazi, O. Flasseur, C. Fontanive, R. Galicher, J. Girard, P. Janin-Potiron, M. Janson, M. Keppler, T. Kopytova, E. Lagadec, J. Lannier, C. Lazzoni, R. Ligi, N. Meunier, A. Perreti, C. Perrot, L. Rodet, C. Romero, D. Rouan, M. Samland, G. Salter, E. Sissa, T. Schmidt, A. Zurlo, D. Mouillet, L. Denis, E. Thiebaut, J. Milli, Z. Wahhaj, J.-L. Beuzit, C. Dominik, Th. Henning, F. Menard, A. Muller, H.M. Schmid, M. Turatto, S. Udry, L. Abe, J. Antichi, F. Allard, A.Baruffolo, P. Baudoz, J. Baudrand, A. Bazzon, P. Blanchard, M. Carbillet, M. Carle, E. Cascone, J. Charton, R. Claudi, A. Costille, V. De Caprio, A. Delboulbe, K. Dohlen, D. Fantinel, P. Feautrier, T. Fusco, P. Gigan, E. Giro, D. Gisler, L. Gluck, C. Gry, N. Hubin, E. Hugot, M. Jaquet, M. Kasper, D. Le Mignant, M. Llored, F. Madec, Y. Magnard, P. Martinez, D. Maurel, S. Messina, O. Moller-Nilsson, L. Mugnier, T. Moulin, A. Origne et al. : The SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE) — II. Observations, Data reduction and analysis Detection performances and early-results., astro-ph.EP, le 5 mars 2021. Lien vers l’article.

Local scientific contacts

Gaël Chauvin | IPAG / OSUG
François Ménard | IPAG / OSUG

Updated on 11 March 2021

[1Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exo-planet REsearch, https://sphere.osug.fr/

[2IPAG: Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble, LAM: Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, LESIA: Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique, Paris, MPIA: Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg, INAF: Instituto Nationale di Astrofisica, INAF-OAPD: Observatorio Astronomico di Padova, ONERA: The French Aerospace Lab, Paris, LAGRANGE: Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, ETH Zurich, ASTRON: Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Observatoire astronomique de l’université de Genève

[3ESO Press Releases from the GTO.
 First Light for SPHERE Exoplanet Imager (June 2014), ESO-PR-1417
 Mysterious Ripples Found Racing Through Planet-forming Disc (Oct 2015), ESO-PR-1538
 Boulevard of broken rings (June 2016), ESO-POTW-1625a
 Sculpting Solar Systems (November 2016), ESO-PR-1640
 ESO’s SPHERE Unveils its First Exoplanet (July 2017), ESO-ANN-17041
 SPHERE Reveals Fascinating Zoo of Discs Around Young Stars (April 2018), ESO-PR-1811
 First Confirmed Image of Newborn Planet Caught with ESO’s VLT (July 2018)
 Stunning Exoplanet Time-lapse (Nov 2018), ESO-POTW-1846
 Mapping of shadows cast on a protoplanetary disk by a close binary system (Nov 2018), INAF-PR-20181126
 Dancing with the Enemy, (Dec 2018), ESO-PR-1840

[4The 100th publication of the SPHERE consortium is:
Langlois, Gratton, Lagrange, Delorme, Boccaletti et al., A&A (2021), arXiv:2103.03976: The SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE): II- Observations, Data reduction and analysis, Detection performances and early-results (https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.03976)

[5A key scientific program of SPHERE is the SHINE (SpHere Infrared survey for Exoplanets) program started in 2015, and representing more than 200 nights of large-scale survey at VLT. SHINE is about to complete this endeavour with a systematic exploration of about 500 young, nearby stars that represent ideal laboratories for the study of planetary formation and evolution. The main scientific drivers are: i/ to explore the occurrence of giant planets beyond typically the orbit of Saturn (> 10 au) in the outer regions of exoplanetary systems, ii/ the exploration of young planetary systems architecture, and iii/ the characterization of the physical and atmospheric properties of young Jupiters. In this framework, a first series of three scientific papers published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics Journal release the early results on the first 150 young, nearby stars explored with SHINE.
Desidera, Chauvin, Bonavita, Messina, LeCoroller et al., A&A, (2021), arXiv:2103.04366: The SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE): I- Sample definition and target characterization (https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.04366)
Langlois, Gratton, Lagrange, Delorme, Boccaletti et al., A&A (2021), arXiv:2103.03976: The SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE): II- Observations, Data reduction and analysis, Detection performances and early-results (https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.03976)
Vigan, Fontanive, Meyer, Biller, Bonavita et al., A&A (2020), arXiv:2007.06573: The SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE): III- The demographics of young giant exoplanets below 300 au with SPHERE (https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.06573)