title: First light of the Gemini Planet imager.
abstract: The Gemini Planet Imager is a dedicated facility for directly imaging and spectroscopically characterizing extrasolar planets. It combines a very high-order adaptive optics system, a diffraction-suppressing coronagraph, and an integral field spectrograph with low spectral resolution but high spatial resolution. Every aspect of the Gemini Planet Imager has been tuned for maximum sensitivity to faint planets near bright stars. During first-light observations, we achieved an estimated H band Strehl ratio of 0.89 and a 5-σ contrast of 10(6) at 0.75 arcseconds and 10(5) at 0.35 arcseconds. Observations of Beta Pictoris clearly detect the planet, Beta Pictoris b, in a single 60-s exposure with minimal postprocessing. Beta Pictoris b is observed at a separation of 434 ± 6 milliarcseconds (mas) and position angle 211.8 ± 0.5°. Fitting the Keplerian orbit of Beta Pic b using the new position together with previous astrometry gives a factor of 3 improvement in most parameters over previous solutions. The planet orbits at a semimajor axis of [Formula: see text] near the 3:2 resonance with the previously known 6-AU asteroidal belt and is aligned with the inner warped disk. The observations give a 4% probability of a transit of the planet in late 2017.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305; bmacintosh@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Macintosh
authors.affiliation: Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720;
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ingraham
authors.affiliation: Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3H4;
authors.forename: Quinn
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Konopacky
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Canada Herzberg, Victoria, BC, Canada V9E 2E7;
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marois
authors.affiliation: Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218;
authors.forename: Marshall
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551;
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Poyneer
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551;
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.affiliation: Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721;
authors.forename: Travis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Barman
authors.affiliation: Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544;
authors.forename: Adam S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Burrows
authors.affiliation: Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI 96720;
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cardwell
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chilcote
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287;
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: De Rosa
authors.affiliation: University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064;
authors.forename: Daren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dillon
authors.affiliation: Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic and Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada H3T 1J4;
authors.forename: Rene
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Doyon
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Canada Herzberg, Victoria, BC, Canada V9E 2E7;
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Canada Herzberg, Victoria, BC, Canada V9E 2E7;
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Erikson
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.affiliation: University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064;
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gavel
authors.affiliation: Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI 96720;
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goodsell
authors.affiliation: Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI 96720;
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hartung
authors.affiliation: Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI 96720;
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hibon
authors.affiliation: Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720;
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kalas
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Larkin
authors.affiliation: Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3H4;
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maire
authors.affiliation: SETI Institute, Carl Sagan Center, Mountain View, CA 94043;
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marchis
authors.affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA 94035;
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Marley
authors.affiliation: Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720;
authors.forename: James
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authors.lastname: McBride
authors.affiliation: Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3H4;
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Millar-Blanchaer
authors.affiliation: Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721;
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morzinski
authors.affiliation: University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064;
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Norton
authors.affiliation: Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024;
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Oppenheimer
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551;
authors.forename: David
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authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287;
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patience
authors.affiliation: Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218;
authors.forename: Laurent
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authors.lastname: Pueyo
authors.affiliation: Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI 96720;
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rantakyro
authors.affiliation: Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI 96720;
authors.forename: Naru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sadakuni
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Canada Herzberg, Victoria, BC, Canada V9E 2E7;
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saddlemyer
authors.affiliation: Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853;
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Savransky
authors.affiliation: Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI 96720;
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serio
authors.affiliation: Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218;
authors.forename: Remi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soummer
authors.affiliation: Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218; Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024;
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sivaramakrishnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602;
authors.forename: Inseok
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA 94035;
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125; and.
authors.forename: J Kent
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064;
authors.forename: Sloane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wiktorowicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218.
authors.forename: Schuyler
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolff
keywords: debris disks; extreme adaptive optics; high-contrast imaging