SPHERE Archives

Completeness of our GaiaPMEX search for binaries. Each panel represents one of the GaiaPMEX references. The shaded area shows the completeness of the combined RUWE+PMa signal, with the dotted blue line and the dashed red line indicating the 50% contour level given by RUWE and PMa alone, respectively. Overplotted are SHINE detections, each assigned to the closest reference star to its target. Squares indicate stars with no RUWE and PMa measurements; triangles represent stars without PMa; dots indicate stars with both RUWE and PMa. The companions are colored according to their detection method: red (DI), gold (RV), green (GaiaNSS), black (GaiaPMEX); those also detected by GaiaPMEX have a black edge. Finally, violet markers indicate companions, only detected by GaiaPMEX, with a minimum mass in the substellar regime. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

The SPHERE Infrared Survey For Exoplanets (SHINE) V. Full Sample Characterization

by Keith CowingMay 29, 2026May 29, 2026

Surveys of large stellar samples are the prime means through which the prevalence of exoplanets can be derived, and crucial constraints to planet formation models can be set.

Images of the total intensity of scattered light from debris disks detected with IRDIS, IFS, or ZIMPOL. The white bar at the bottom of each image corresponds to 1″. In all images, sky north is up and east is to the left. Original image -- Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

SPHERE’s Debris Disk Gallery: Tell-tale Signs Of Dust And Small Bodies In Distant Solar Systems

by Keith CowingDecember 10, 2025December 10, 2025

Observations with the instrument SPHERE at ESO’s Very Large Telescope have produced an unprecedented gallery of “debris disks” in exoplanetary systems. Gaël Chauvin (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy), project scientist […]

The image to the left, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows a possible planet being born around the young star HD 135344B.

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

A Newborn Planet Observed Sculpting The Dust Around It

by Keith CowingJuly 21, 2025

Astronomers may have caught a still-forming planet in action, carving out an intricate pattern in the gas and dust that surrounds its young host star.

First image of the AO prototype ‘COME–ON’ system taken at 1.52 m telescope of the Observatoire de Haute Provence. γ2 And (a binary star with a 0.5′′ separation) was observed in K band [50]. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

High-Contrast Imaging: Hide and Seek with Exoplanets

by Keith CowingJanuary 16, 2025January 16, 2025

So far, most of the about 5,700 exoplanets have been discovered mainly with radial velocity and transit methods. These techniques are sensitive to planets in close orbits, not being able […]

XAO+PIAAN simulation scheme. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Proxima Centauri, Status Report

RISTRETTO: A VLT XAO Design To Reach Proxima Cen b In The Visible

by Keith CowingSeptember 13, 2024September 13, 2024

RISTRETTO is the evolution of the original idea of coupling the VLT instruments SPHERE and ESPRESSO lovis_2016a, aiming at High Dispersion Coronagraphy. RISTRETTO is a visitor instrument that should enable […]

The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) connects the Keck II AO system and the Keck/NIRSPEC high-resolution infrared spectrograph (https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/nirspec/) via a linear bundle of four single-mode fibers spaced by ~800 mas on the sky. Single-mode fibers provide a more stable quasi-Gaussian line spread function. Their small angular size, matched to the diffraction limit (FWHM~50 mas in K band), also provides excellent sky background rejection, as well as reduces the off-axis starlight injection into the single mode fibers. Currently, KPIC uses the Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensors for AO. Larger image

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

The High-contrast Performance of the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer

by Keith CowingJune 24, 2024June 24, 2024

The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC), a series of upgrades to the Keck II Adaptive Optics System and Instrument Suite, aims to demonstrate high-resolution spectroscopy of faint exoplanets that […]

This research brings together observations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets forming around them in spectacular discs. This small selection from the survey shows 10 discs from the three regions of our galaxy observed in the papers. V351 Ori and V1012 Ori are located in the most distant of the three regions, the gas-rich cloud of Orion, some 1600 light-years from Earth. DG Tau, T Tau, HP Tau, MWC758 and GM Aur are located in the Taurus region, while HD 97048, WW Cha and SZ Cha can be found in Chamaeleon I, all of which are about 600 light-years from Earth. The images shown here were captured using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). SPHERE’s state-of-the-art extreme adaptive optics system corrects for the turbulent effects of Earth’s atmosphere, yielding crisp images of the discs around stars. The stars themselves have been covered with a coronagraph — a circular mask that blocks their intense glare, revealing the faint discs around them. The discs have been scaled to appear roughly the same size in this composition. Credit: ESO/C. Ginski, A. Garufi, P.-G. Valegård et al.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Groundbreaking Survey Reveals Secrets Of Planet Birth Around Dozens Of StarsESOGroundbreaking Survey Reveals Secrets Of Planet Birth Around Dozens Of Stars

by Keith CowingMarch 5, 2024March 5, 2024

In a series of studies, a team of astronomers has shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The stunning images, captured using the European Southern […]

Implementation of the FIM inside the IFS arm of SPHERE. On the left drawing, the SPHERE components are labelled in black, while the FIM components are labelled in red. The inset in the top right shows the components of the core optics bench. The light path in the system is fully illustrated in Vigan et al. (2022b, their Fig. 3). The picture on the right shows the FIM at the end of the installation in SPHERE. The IFS Lyot wheel is visible in the bottom left of the picture. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

First Light of VLT/HiRISE: High-resolution Spectroscopy Of Young Giant Exoplanets

by Keith CowingNovember 17, 2023

A major endeavor of this decade is the direct characterization of young giant exoplanets at high spectral resolution to determine the composition of their atmosphere and infer their formation processes […]

Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

Compositional Mapping of Europa Using MCMC Modelling of Near-IR VLT/SPHERE and Galileo/NIMS Observations

by Keith CowingMarch 7, 2022May 19, 2023

We present maps of surface composition of Europa’s anti-jovian hemisphere acquired using high spatial resolution IFU multi-spectral data from the SPHERE instrument on the Very Large Telescope (0.95 to 1.65μm) […]

SPHERE

The SPHERE Infrared Survey For Exoplanets (SHINE) V. Full Sample Characterization

SPHERE’s Debris Disk Gallery: Tell-tale Signs Of Dust And Small Bodies In Distant Solar Systems

A Newborn Planet Observed Sculpting The Dust Around It

High-Contrast Imaging: Hide and Seek with Exoplanets

RISTRETTO: A VLT XAO Design To Reach Proxima Cen b In The Visible

The High-contrast Performance of the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer

Groundbreaking Survey Reveals Secrets Of Planet Birth Around Dozens Of StarsESOGroundbreaking Survey Reveals Secrets Of Planet Birth Around Dozens Of Stars

First Light of VLT/HiRISE: High-resolution Spectroscopy Of Young Giant Exoplanets

Compositional Mapping of Europa Using MCMC Modelling of Near-IR VLT/SPHERE and Galileo/NIMS Observations

NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,206 2 July 2026 (Space Life Science Research Results)

Older Than The Sun: Astronomers Find New Clues To The Origin Of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Carl Sagan Month: Call For Participation

The Habitable Worlds Observatory Technology Development Plan

Searching For The Elusive CH2+ With The James Webb Space Telescope. Another Carbocation To Constrain Astrochemical Networks