Projects

The SPHERE instrument, installed at the ESO Very Large Telescope at Paranal (Chile), aims at imaging and characterizing giant exoplanets around stars close to the Sun. SPHERE represents a huge technological and scientific challenge as planets are very faint and very close to their star and therefore difficult to detect. [more]

The SPHERE+ project capitalizes on the expertise and lessons learned from SPHERE to push high contrast imaging performance to its limits on the VLT. The scientific program of SPHERE+ will open a new and compelling scientific window for the upcoming decade in strong synergy with ground-based facilities and space missions to detect young Jupiters down to the snowline, search for protoplanets and explore the diversity of planet-forming disks with increased sensitivities. [more]

The Roman/CGI instrument is a cutting-edge technological demonstrator designed to block the overwhelming glare of host stars so astronomers can directly image and study faint exoplanets and circumstellar disks in visible and near-infrared light. Unlike ground-based adaptive optics systems, Roman/CGI operates from space, allowing for unprecedented starlight suppression using deformable mirrors, complex masks, and advanced wavefront control.  [more]

The Extremely Large Telescope represents a major revolution to come in the field of ground-based astronomy and specifically in the field of planetary formation and exoplanets. Our group is deeply involved into the preparation of this science cases in the context of the METIS and PCS instruments that will offer unprecedented vision of planetary systems and exoplanets in the decade to come. [more]