Astronomy is a data heavy field driven by observations of remote sources reflecting or emitting light. These signals are transient in nature, which makes it very important to fully utilize every observation. This however is often difficult due to the faintness of these observations, often are only slightly above the level of observational noise. We present new or adapted methodologies for dealing with these low signal-to-noise scenarios, along with practical examples including determining exoplanet physical properties, periodicities in asteroids, and the rotational and orbital properties of the multiple asteroid system 2577 Litva.

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Measuring accurate stellar abundances of planet-forming elements is critical to our understanding of exoplanet compositions and their formation processes. While these values can be reliably derived from optical spectra for FGK-type stars, the recovery of accurate abundances for M dwarfs is complicated due to persistent discrepancies between models and observed spectra, such as blended absorption features and broad molecular bands that obscure the continuum. These lingering uncertainties in M dwarf chemical compositions inhibit our ability to accurately model the interiors and atmospheres of exoplanets around M dwarfs. To address this issue, we have built a custom framework to extract elemental abundances from the spectra of cool stars via the spectral synthesis method. We showcase our methodology as well as the derived elemental abundances for a pair of cool stars. SPIRou, with its high spectral resolution and broad near-IR wavelength range, is the ideal instrument to help mitigate the difficulties present in the recovery of M dwarf elemental abundances. By combining the capabilities of SPIRou with our framework, we are well equipped to ensure the accuracy of derived elemental abundances in M dwarfs. Our results will ultimately be applied to planet-hosting M dwarfs in order to place strong constraints on the planets’ refractory and volatile abundances, both of which are important diagnostics of planetary formation histories and interior compositions. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Understanding what planets are made of helps us learn how they form. Since planets and their stars are created from the same materials, we can study a star’s composition to learn more about the planets that orbit it. Measuring the abundances of planet-forming elements like magnesium, silicon, and iron is routinely performed for Sun-like stars, but the task proves to be much more difficult for smaller, cooler stars like M dwarfs. M dwarfs are very common and host most of the super-Earths within the Milky Way that could potentially support life, so studying them is crucial. My Master’s thesis focuses on developing a method to accurately measure the elemental abundances in M dwarfs using high-resolution spectra taken at infrared wavelengths where M dwarfs emit most of their light. My work is helping to improve our understanding of the composition and formation pathways of exoplanets around M dwarfs.

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This thesis provides a multi-pronged approach towards paving the way for future space and ground based exoplanet characterisation e↵orts as well as providing new analysis of the atmosphere of the exoplanet HD 179949 b. This is done, firstly, by outlining engineering trade studies conducted for the attitude and orbit control system (AOCS) and sun shield for the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO) spacecraft (a proposed European Space Agency exoplanet space mission). These trade studies were conducted in collaboration with EADS Astrium. A cold gas system with the possibility of a hybrid system which would include the use of reaction wheels is recommend for the design of the AOCS. For the sun shield, a V-groove cone shield is concluded to provide the best thermal coverage while also providing stay light protection as well as being more mechanically symmetric than other options. Simulations are then conducted to determine the number of transiting planets future surveys should expect to find around stars within 50 parsecs of the sun. This is done by taking the known stars within 50 parsecs and adding a simulated planet population based on current models and observations to each star. Assumptions are made regarding observability of a planetary transit and a Monte Carlo simulation run to gain statistics on the number and type of planetary systems that can be expected to be found. The results of the simulation show a mean expected number of 27 detectable transiting planets within 50 parsecs. Next, using the Position and Proper Motion Extended-L (PPMXL) catalogue, optical and near-infrared colour cuts were used together with a reduced proper motion cut to find bright M dwarfs for future exoplanet transit studies. PPMXL’s low proper motion uncertainties allow this work to probe down to smaller proper motions than previous similar studies. Unique objects found with this method were combined with that of previous work to produce 8479 K < 9 M dwarfs. Low-resolution spectroscopy was obtained of a sample of the objects found using this selection method to gain statistics on their spectral type and physical properties. Results show a spectral-type range of K7-M4V. This catalogue is the most complete collection of K < 9 M dwarfs currently available and is made available here. High resolution spectroscopy and model spectra of planetary atmospheres is then used along with a spectral deconvolution technique to attempt to detect the Doppler shifted signal of the non-transiting planet HD 179949 b. The signal was not detected but new upper limits were set ruling out the presence of TiO down to a log10 ✏0 = -4.09 with 99.9 per cent confidence. Simulations conducted by this work imply a loss of sensitivity occurring possibly due to varying telluric interference or instrumental systematics.

Detection of earth-size exoplanets using the astrometric signal of the host star requires sub-microarcsecond measurement precision. One major challenge in achieving this precision using a medium-size (< 2-m) space telescope is the calibration of dynamic distortions. A diffractive pupil can be used to generate polychromatic diffraction spikes in the focal plane, which encode the distortions in the optical system and may be used to calibrate astrometric measurements. The first half of this dissertation discusses the design and construction of a laboratory to test this concept. The main components of the system are a high stability star simulator, a diffraction limited off-axis optical system, and the data reduction algorithms to obtain the distortion map calibration. Currently, the laboratory is operational and first tests of distortion measurements have been done validating this concept to improve the astrometric accuracy of a telescope. The second part of this dissertation describes the use of the multi-laser guide star (LGS) system available at the 6.5 m MMT telescope to characterize GLAO performance and advance Laser Tomography Adaptive Optics (LTAO) technology. The system uses five range-gated and dynamically refocused Rayleigh laser beacons to sense the atmospheric wavefront aberration. Corrections are then applied to the wavefront using the 336-actuator adaptive secondary mirror of the telescope. So far, the system has demonstrated successful control of ground-layer aberration over a field of view (FoV) substantially wider than is delivered by conventional adaptive optics, yielding reduction in the width of the on-axis point-spread function from 1.07" to < 0.2" in H band. Both techniques can be combined to improve the astrometric accuracy of ground based telescopes, especially when using Multi-Conjugated Adaptive Optics (MCAO). A diffractive pupil can be used to calibrate the distortions induced by multiple Deformable Mirrors (DM), which is the main limitation to use this kind of AO system for high precision astrometric measurements.

The characterization of exozodiacal light emission is both important for the understanding of planetary systems evolution and for the preparation of future space missions aiming to characterize low mass planets in the habitable zone of nearby main sequence stars. The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) exozodi survey aims at providing a ten-fold improvement over current state of the art, measuring dust emission levels down to a typical accuracy of similar to 12 zodis per star, for a representative ensemble of similar to 30+ high priority targets. Such measurements promise to yield a final accuracy of about 2 zodis on the median exozodi level of the targets sample. Reaching a 1. measurement uncertainty of 12 zodis per star corresponds to measuring interferometric cancellation ("null") levels, i.e visibilities at the few 100 ppm uncertainty level. We discuss here the challenges posed by making such high accuracy mid-infrared visibility measurements from the ground and present the methodology we developed for achieving current best levels of 500 ppm or so. We also discuss current limitations and plans for enhanced exozodi observations over the next few years at LBTI.

Transition disks, protoplanetary disks with inner clearings, are promising objects in which to directly image forming planets. The high contrast imaging technique of non-redundant masking is well posed to detect planetary mass companions at several to tens of AU in nearby transition disks. We present non-redundant masking observations of the T Cha and LkCa 15 transition disks, both of which host posited sub-stellar mass companions. However, due to a loss of information intrinsic to the technique, observations of extended sources (e.g. scattered light from disks) can be misinterpreted as moving companions. We discuss tests to distinguish between these two scenarios, with applications to the T Cha and LkCa 15 observations. We argue that a static, forward-scattering disk can explain the T Cha data, while LkCa 15 is best explained by multiple orbiting companions.