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Submitted by Denilton Machado da Silva null (deniltonfisico@hotmail.com) on 2017-03-28T23:04:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACÃO DENILTON UNESP2017 01.pdf: 3984743 bytes, checksum: 8a0ce09b952876299038e5c1c7ea7bcc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luiz Galeffi (luizgaleffi@gmail.com) on 2017-03-29T18:10:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_dm_me_prud.pdf: 3984743 bytes, checksum: 8a0ce09b952876299038e5c1c7ea7bcc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-29T18:10:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_dm_me_prud.pdf: 3984743 bytes, checksum: 8a0ce09b952876299038e5c1c7ea7bcc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / De acordo com pesquisas em ensino de ciências, nos últimos tempos, os alunos de forma geral, não compreendem e não desenvolvem as tarefas sobre os conceitos básicos de ciências, como por exemplo, relacionar um tema de Física com os acontecimentos rotineiros do dia a dia, assim como relacioná-lo com a Química ou Geografia. Uma possível hipótese está no fato de que o ambiente escolar frequentado pelos alunos, atualmente, está desconexo com os interesses e curiosidades que eles possuem em aprender. Estes interesses estão ligados apenas a conceitos imediatistas. Esta geração de alunos que está se moldando é conhecida como “geração tecnológica”. As simples experimentações em si realizadas em salas de aulas não refletem no real aprendizado para que os alunos desenvolvam competências e habilidades na elaboração de saberes científico. Os conteúdos são apenas direcionados para cumprir currículos em espaços de tempo cada vez mais reduzidos. Pela fundamentação teórica de David Ausubel, que relaciona a questão de materiais representativos e significativos no processo de ensino aprendizagem, foi proposta, nesta pesquisa, a discussão dos conceitos de Astronomia, em formatos de oficinas, na qual os alunos foram incentivados a criar o próprio conhecimento de forma construtivista por meio da metodologia mediadora na relação com os outros saberes como a Matemática, Geografia, História, Física incentivando a interdisciplinaridade. Os resultados obtidos nas oficinas foram gravados e transformados em material de mídia que foram hospedados em um canal para serem compartilhados via web. Este material está sendo utilizado para consulta e estudos atendendo o livre acesso de conteúdo agregando conhecimento na tentativa de atender a “sociedade do conhecimento” que está se moldando via Ead. / In agreement of recent science education research, recently, in general, students cannot understand and also can not develop their stuff about basic science concepts, such as make the relationship between Physics and something that happen day-by-day either relation with chemistry or geography. A possible hypothesis can be the fact of the scholar ambient could be disconnected from the interest and curiosities that they should be to learn. These interests are connected just only with immediatist concepts. The students generation that is coming is called “Technological generation”. The experiments did in classroom have not been enough to improve their scientific skills. The subjects are just specifically used to fulfill curricula in a short period of time (and this time have been reduced constantly or periodically or frequently). By the theoretical basis of David Ausubel, that related representative and significative materials in the teaching/ learnt process was proposed, in this Project, the discussion of about Astronomy concepts using workshop format, In which students were encouraged to create their own knowledge in a constructivist way through the mediator methodology in relation to other knowledge such as Mathematics, Geography, History, Physics encouraging interdisciplinarity. The results obtained in the workshops were recorded and transformed in media material that it can be shared in web. This material is being used for reference source and studies, providing free access to content, aggregating knowledge in an attempt to meet the "knowledge society" that is shaping through EAD.

SALT HRS (Southern African Large Telescope High Resolution Échelle Spectrograph) is a high-resolution, high-efficiency spectrograph for the 11m SALT telescope in Sutherland, South Africa. The initial optical design work was performed at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Revisions to the concept, the mechanical design, manufacture, assembly and testing have been handled by the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, at Durham University in the United Kingdom. SALT HRS is a fibre-fed echelle grating spectrograph with four operational modes: low-, medium- and high-resolution and high-stability modes, having spectral resolutions of R ≈16000, 37000, 67000 and 67000 respectively over a wavelength range of 370-890nm. The instrument is of a dual channel, ‘white pupil’ design, in which the primary mirror acts to collimate light onto a single R4 echelle grating, and also to focus dispersed light to an intermediate focus. A dichroic beam-splitter separates the dispersed light into two separate spectral channels. Spherical pupil mirrors transfer the separated beams via a fold mirror to two wavelength-specific volume-phase holographic gratings (VPHGs) used as cross-dispersers. Cross-dispersed spectra are then imaged by two fully dioptric camera systems onto optimized CCD detectors. This thesis presents the results of the laboratory testing and specification of several critical sub-systems of SALT HRS, as well as the development of key software tools for the design verification and operation at the telescope. In Chapter 1 we first review the technical development of high-resolution spectroscopy and its specific implementation in SALT HRS. In Chapter 2 we develop a comprehensive throughput model of the entire system based on a combination of as-built performance and specific throughput measurements in the laboratory. This is used to make some specific predictions for the on-sky performance of SALT HRS and the magnitude limits for science targets. We also present a graphical exposure time calculator based on these measurements which can be used by an astronomer to plan their observations with SALT HRS. Chapter 3 contains a detailed treatise on the optical fibre system of SALT HRS. Considerations for the use of optical fibres in astronomy are provided, as are details of an optional double scrambler, and the various instrument fibre modes. Extensive measurements of focal ratio degradation (FRD) are also presented, with testing of input beam speed; wavelength; fibre bending; variable pupil mirror illumination; and vacuum tank pressure dependency. The systems for fibre management are reviewed, as is the fibre bundle assembly process. Testing of two further sub-systems is described in Chapter 4. Firstly the long-term stability of the mirror mounting mechanisms is determined. The advantages of cross-dispersion of echelle spectra using volume-phase holographic gratings are then discussed, and the results of diffraction efficiency measurements are given for both red and blue channel gratings. Modern CCD technologies are examined in Chapter 5, and the blue detector is experimentally characterized using photon transfer and quantum efficiency curves. It is also used for an investigation into cosmic ray events in CCDs. Results from shielding the detector using lead are described, as is an attempt to distinguish the source of the events based on their morphology. Finally, Chapter 6 deals with the handling of data produced by SALT HRS. Methods of wavelength calibration of the spectra are discussed, including the use of Thorium-Argon lamps and an iodine absorption cell. The implementation of a Python based quick-look data reduction pipeline is reviewed, with a description of the processes performed. A summary of the thesis is given in Chapter 7.

The manipulation of electromagnetic radiation via the use of periodic arrays of sub-wavelength metallic structures (unit cells), nowadays named "metamaterials", has been known of in the microwave engineering community for over fifty years. In the last decade interest in such sub-wavelength structures grew, mainly due to their ability to interact with radiation in ways natural materials could not e.g. by producing a negative refractive index (NRI). This project sought to see whether NRI metamaterials could provide benefits to the mm and sub-mm wavelength astronomical instrumentation currently in use. To aid rapid design and optimisation of devices made from a cascaded set of metamaterial unit cells, a hybridised Transmission Line (TL) model was developed where the matrix components used in the TL model were "seeded" with data taken from a Finite Element Method (FEM) model of a simpler structure. A comparison between the two found that the TL model was capable of providing results that differed from the FEM model by no more than ~10E−4 for the transmitted intensity, |S21|^2, and <1° for transmitted phase, arg(S21). A slab of material with a refractive index, n = −1, can exhibit an effect known as "superlensing". A three unit cell thick NRI slab was designed, manufactured and experimentally tested. It was found to be capable of producing an NRI across a fractional band of at least 21%, producing a refractive index value of n = −1 at around 90 GHz. The experimental and simulated transmission and reflection data show good match with each other. A highly birefringent air gap Half Wave Plate (HWP) was designed, manufactured and experimentally tested. Defining its useful bandwidth as the region where the phase difference, is equal to (−180 ± 3)° a single HWP had a fractional bandwidth of 0.3%. The bandwidth was extended by using the Pancharatnam method, developed in the 1950's to produce highly achromatic optical wave plates. The method however is applicable to other frequencies and polarisation control technologies. Optimising a three HWP TL-based Pancharatnam model, the HWP's modelled fractional bandwidth increased to 6.6%. Experimental data agrees with the model showing a plateauing of the phase difference at −180°. A highly birefringent polypropylene embedded Quarter Wave Plate (QWP) was also designed, manufactured and tested. Defining its useful bandwidth as the region where the differential phase is (90 ± 2)° a single QWP produced a fractional bandwidth of 0.6%. By optimising a four QWP TL-based Pancharatnam model, the QWP's performance was improved to 7.8%. Experimental data, whilst not in complete agreement with the model does show a reduction in the gradient of phase difference where it crossed 90°. It was found that current designs for NRI metamaterials fall short of the standards required to be used in quasi-optical astronomical instrumentation due to high dispersion and absorption. The high dispersion limits NRI metamaterials to uses in instruments built for narrowband applications. Whilst the Pancharatnam method can increase bandwidths where a flat differential phase response is required, this comes at the cost of increased absorption. To reach their full potential, NRI metamaterials' lossiness must be reduced e.g. possibly by cryogenic means or the use of "active" metamaterials.

The new generation of giant ground-based telescopes will see their first light this decade. These state-of-the-art facilities will significantly surpass the resolving power of modern space-based observatories such as the James Webb telescope, thanks to their enormous aperture size and adaptive optics (AO) facilities. Without AO, atmospheric turbulence would degrade the image quality of these enormous telescopes to that of a 50 cm amateur one. These extremely large telescopes (ELTs) will further benefit from a particular branch of AO called multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO), which provides an extremely high resolving power over a much wider field of view as compared to classical AO systems. The design and fabrication of such systems, as well as their optimal use for science operation, pose a great challenge as they are an order of magnitude more complicated than current AO systems. To face such a challenge, the combined knowledge of MCAO system design and fabrication, working in tandem with scientific insights into new astronomy science cases, is an extremely valuable and essential pairing. This thesis is an effort to not only contribute to the design and fabrication of ELT MCAO facilities, but also provide guidance on the optimal method to utilize these giant telescopes to achieve unprecedented astrometric measurements. On the instrumentation side, in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada's - Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Institute as well as W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, I was involved in the design and fabrication of a cutting edge new wavefront sensor, which is the eye of an AO system. I performed opto-mechanical design and verification studies for components of the Keck infrared pyramid wavefront sensor (IR-PWFS) as well as the Keck Planet Imager and characterizer (KPIC) instrument, which have both been commissioned and are in science operation. Furthermore, I designed the alignment plan and participated in the modification and alignment operation of a few components on the Keck II adaptive optics bench on the summit of Mauna Kea. To pave the way for the design verification of future MCAO systems for ELTs, I proposed a new method for an old challenge in the path of AO system design and verification: a flexible method for precise intensity pattern injection into laboratory AO benches. AO benches are the backbone of instrument design and modeling. One of the challenges especially important for the future generation of MCAO systems for ELTs is the verification of the effect of shadowed regions on the primary mirror. During my PhD, I successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a new proposed method to accurately model the telescope pupil. This work was done in partnership with the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM) in France. The method I developed at LAM will be implemented in the AO Lab at NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics. As an observational astronomer, I focused on developing methods for making optimal astrometric measurements with MCAO-enabled telescopes. The expected unparalleled astrometric precision of ELTs comes with many unprecedented challenges that if left unresolved, would jeopardize the success of these facilities as they would not be able to reach their science goals. I used observations with the only available MCAO system in science operation, the Gemini MCAO system on the 8-meter Gemini South telescope in Chile, to develop and verify a pipeline specifically designed for very high-precision astrometric studies with MCAO-fed imagers. I successfully used the pipeline to provide the precise on-sky differential distortion of the Gemini South telescope and its MCAO facilities by looking deep into the core of globular cluster NGC~6723. Using this pipeline, I produced high quality proper motions with an uncertainty floor of $\sim 45$\,$\mu$as~yr$^{-1}$ as well as measured the proper motion dispersion profile of NGC~6723 from a radius of $\sim 10$ arcseconds out to $\sim 1$\,arcminute, based on $\sim 12000$ stars. I also produced a high-quality optical-near-infrared color magnitude diagram which clearly shows the extreme horizontal branch and main-sequence knee of this cluster. / Graduate

Le European Extremely Large Telescope présentement en construction au Chili, sera le plus grand télescope optique jamais construit, avec son miroir primaire de 39 mètres de diamètre. Un de ses instruments, ANDES (ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph), combinera l’optique adaptative et la spectroscopie à haute dispersion dans les bandes photométriques YJH pour permettre notamment l’étude de la composition chimique d’atmosphères d’exoplanètes potentiellement habitables. La détection de la vie sur une exoplanète candidate commence nécessairement par l’étude de son atmosphère, et spécifiquement sa composition chimique. Celle-ci peut en effet révéler la présence de biosignatures, c’est-à-dire la signature spectrale de molécules qui ne pourraient exister sans la présence de la vie. Une paire de molécules particulièrement intéressante est la paire dioxygène (O2) et méthane (CH4), soient deux molécules qui peuvent être créées par des processus biotiques, mais qui, laissées à elles-mêmes, réagissent ensemble dans l’atmosphère pour générer de l’eau (H2O) et du dioxyde de carbone (CO2) jusqu’à la déplétion de l’une des deux (Thompson et al., 2022). La présence simultanée d’O2 et de CH4 nécessite donc des réactions chimiques hors équilibre comme celles associées avec l’activité biologique. ANDES sera équipé de tous les modules théoriquement nécessaires pour détecter la lumière réfléchie d'une exoplanète, incluant une interface d'optique adaptative qui minimise la lumière parasite de l'exoplanète localisée tout près du coeur de l'étoile, une unité de champ intégral permettant de disséquer l'image de l'étoile en des dizaines de spaxels, chacun alimentant un spectrographe infrarouge à haute dispersion. Des techniques statistiques bayesiennes sont ensuite utilisées pour détecter le signal atmosphérique de l'exoplanète enfoui dans le spectre de l'étoile. Ce travail décrit des simulations détaillées de tous ces modules afin de déterminer les capacités d’ANDES à détecter l’atmosphère d’exoplanètes potentiellement habitables, notamment Proxima b, la plus rapprochée du Système Solaire. Les simulations révèlent que si Proxima b a une atmosphère identique à celle de la Terre, l’eau y serait détectable en moins d'une nuit (6 heures), alors que les détections d’O2, de CO2 et de CH4 nécessiteraient jusqu’à 320, 420 et 1200 heures d’observation, respectivement. / The European Extremely Large Telescope, currently under construction in Chile, will be the largest telescope ever built, with its primary mirror measuring 39 meters in diameter. One of its instruments, ANDES (ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph), will combine adaptive optics and high dispersion dpectroscopy in the Y JH photometric bands. This combination will allow the study of the chemical composition of atmospheres of potentially habitable exoplanets. The search for life on a candidate exoplanet necessitates the study of its atmosphere, specically its chemical composition. This can reveal the presence of biosignatures, i.e the spectral signature of molecules that cannot exist without life. One inriguing pair of molecules is dioxygen (O2) and methane (CH4). Both can be created through biotic processes, but left to themselves, they form water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) until one of the two is depleted. The simultaneous presence of O2 and CH4 requires out-of-equilibrium chemical reactions, such as those associated with biological activity. ANDES will be equipped with all the crucial modules to detect the reflected light from an exoplanet. It includes an adaptive optics front-end interface that minimizes the stray light from the exoplanet located very close to the star’s core, an integrated field unit that dissects the star’s image into dozens of spaxels, each feeding a high-dispersion infrared spectrograph. Bayesian statistics are then used to detect the exoplanet’s atmospheric signal buried within the star’s spectrum This work describes detailed simulations of all these modules to determine ANDES’ ca- pabilities in detecting the atmosphere of potentially habitable exoplanets, notably Proxima b, the closest to the Solar System. The simulations reveal that if Proxima b has an atmo- sphere similar to Earth’s, water could be detectable in less than one night (6 hours), while detections of O2, CO2 and CH4 could require up to 320, 420 and 1200 hours of observations, respectively.

Cette thèse porte sur l’amélioration des techniques d’imagerie à haut-contraste permettant la détection directe de compagnons à de faibles séparations de leur étoile hôte. Plus précisément, elle s’inscrit dans le développement du Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) qui est un instrument de deuxième génération pour les télescopes Gemini. Cette caméra utilisera un spectromètre à champ intégral (SCI) pour caractériser les compagnons détectés et pour réduire le bruit de tavelure limitant leur détection et corrigera la turbulence atmosphérique à un niveau encore jamais atteint en utilisant deux miroirs déformables dans son système d’optique adaptative (OA) : le woofer et le tweeter. Le woofer corrigera les aberrations de basses fréquences spatiales et de grandes amplitudes alors que le tweeter compensera les aberrations de plus hautes fréquences ayant une plus faible amplitude. Dans un premier temps, les performances pouvant être atteintes à l’aide des SCIs présentement en fonction sur les télescopes de 8-10 m sont investiguées en observant le compagnon de l’étoile GQ Lup à l’aide du SCI NIFS et du système OA ALTAIR installés sur le télescope Gemini Nord. La technique de l’imagerie différentielle angulaire (IDA) est utilisée pour atténuer le bruit de tavelure d’un facteur 2 à 6. Les spectres obtenus en bandes JHK ont été utilisés pour contraindre la masse du compagnon par comparaison avec les prédictions des modèles atmosphériques et évolutifs à 8−60 MJup, où MJup représente la masse de Jupiter. Ainsi, il est déterminé qu’il s’agit plus probablement d’une naine brune que d’une planète. Comme les SCIs présentement en fonction sont des caméras polyvalentes pouvant être utilisées pour plusieurs domaines de l’astrophysique, leur conception n’a pas été optimisée pour l’imagerie à haut-contraste. Ainsi, la deuxième étape de cette thèse a consisté à concevoir et tester en laboratoire un prototype de SCI optimisé pour cette tâche. Quatre algorithmes de suppression du bruit de tavelure ont été testés sur les données obtenues : la simple différence, la double différence, la déconvolution spectrale ainsi qu’un nouvel algorithme développé au sein de cette thèse baptisé l’algorithme des spectres jumeaux. Nous trouvons que l’algorithme des spectres jumeaux est le plus performant pour les deux types de compagnons testés : les compagnons méthaniques et non-méthaniques. Le rapport signal-sur-bruit de la détection a été amélioré d’un facteur allant jusqu’à 14 pour un compagnon méthanique et d’un facteur 2 pour un compagnon non-méthanique. Dernièrement, nous nous intéressons à certains problèmes liés à la séparation de la commande entre deux miroirs déformables dans le système OA de GPI. Nous présentons tout d’abord une méthode utilisant des calculs analytiques et des simulations Monte Carlo pour déterminer les paramètres clés du woofer tels que son diamètre, son nombre d’éléments actifs et leur course qui ont ensuite eu des répercussions sur le design général de l’instrument. Ensuite, le système étudié utilisant un reconstructeur de Fourier, nous proposons de séparer la commande entre les deux miroirs dans l’espace de Fourier et de limiter les modes transférés au woofer à ceux qu’il peut précisément reproduire. Dans le contexte de GPI, ceci permet de remplacer deux matrices de 1600×69 éléments nécessaires pour une séparation “classique” de la commande par une seule de 45×69 composantes et ainsi d’utiliser un processeur prêt à être utilisé plutôt qu’une architecture informatique plus complexe. / The main goal of this thesis is the improvement of high-contrast imaging techniques enabling the direct detection of faint companions at small separations from their host star. More precisely, it answers some questions linked to the development of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), a second generation instrument for the Gemini telescopes. This instrument will use an integral field spectrometer (IFS) to characterize the detected faint companions and to attenuate the speckle noise limiting their detection. Moreover, it will use a combination of two deformable mirrors, the woofer and the tweeter, in its adaptive optics (AO) system in order to reach the atmospheric turbulence correction sought. The woofer corrects the low spatial frequency high amplitude aberrations while the ones with a high frequency and a low amplitude are compensated by the tweeter. First, the high-contrast imaging performance achieved by current on-line IFS on 8-10 m telescopes are investigated through the observation of the faint companion to the star GQ Lup using the IFS NIFS and the AO system ALTAIR presently in function on the telescope Gemini North. The angular differential imaging (ADI) technique is used to reach an attenuation of the speckle noise by a factor of 2 to 6. The JHK spectra obtained were used to constrain the mass of the companion to 8−60 MJup making it most likely a brown dwarf. MJup represents the mass of Jupiter. Current on-line IFS were conceived to be versatile so that they could be used in many astrophysical fields. Hence, their conception was not optimized for high-contrast imaging. The second part of this thesis objective was to build and test in the laboratory an IFS optimized for this task. Four speckle suppression algorithms were tested on the resulting data: the simple difference, the double difference, the spectral deconvolution and a novel algorithm developed in this thesis dubbed the spectral twin algorithm. We found the spectral twin algorithm to be the most efficient to detect both types of companions tested: methanated and non-methanated. The detection signal-to-noise ratio was improved by a factor up to 14 for the methanated companion and up to 2 for a non-methanated one. In the last part, problems linked to the wavefront correction split between two deformable mirrors are investigated. First, a method allowing to select the woofer key parameters such as its diameter, its number of actuators and its required stroke which influenced the overall instrument design is presented. Second, since GPI will use a Fourier reconstructor, we propose to split the command in the Fourier domain and to limit the modes sent to the woofer to the ones it can accurately reproduce. In GPI, this results in replacing two matrices of 1600×69 elements in the case of a classic command split scheme by a single matrix of 45×69 components with the proposed method.

Cette thèse porte sur l’amélioration des techniques d’imagerie à haut-contraste permettant la détection directe de compagnons à de faibles séparations de leur étoile hôte. Plus précisément, elle s’inscrit dans le développement du Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) qui est un instrument de deuxième génération pour les télescopes Gemini. Cette caméra utilisera un spectromètre à champ intégral (SCI) pour caractériser les compagnons détectés et pour réduire le bruit de tavelure limitant leur détection et corrigera la turbulence atmosphérique à un niveau encore jamais atteint en utilisant deux miroirs déformables dans son système d’optique adaptative (OA) : le woofer et le tweeter. Le woofer corrigera les aberrations de basses fréquences spatiales et de grandes amplitudes alors que le tweeter compensera les aberrations de plus hautes fréquences ayant une plus faible amplitude. Dans un premier temps, les performances pouvant être atteintes à l’aide des SCIs présentement en fonction sur les télescopes de 8-10 m sont investiguées en observant le compagnon de l’étoile GQ Lup à l’aide du SCI NIFS et du système OA ALTAIR installés sur le télescope Gemini Nord. La technique de l’imagerie différentielle angulaire (IDA) est utilisée pour atténuer le bruit de tavelure d’un facteur 2 à 6. Les spectres obtenus en bandes JHK ont été utilisés pour contraindre la masse du compagnon par comparaison avec les prédictions des modèles atmosphériques et évolutifs à 8−60 MJup, où MJup représente la masse de Jupiter. Ainsi, il est déterminé qu’il s’agit plus probablement d’une naine brune que d’une planète. Comme les SCIs présentement en fonction sont des caméras polyvalentes pouvant être utilisées pour plusieurs domaines de l’astrophysique, leur conception n’a pas été optimisée pour l’imagerie à haut-contraste. Ainsi, la deuxième étape de cette thèse a consisté à concevoir et tester en laboratoire un prototype de SCI optimisé pour cette tâche. Quatre algorithmes de suppression du bruit de tavelure ont été testés sur les données obtenues : la simple différence, la double différence, la déconvolution spectrale ainsi qu’un nouvel algorithme développé au sein de cette thèse baptisé l’algorithme des spectres jumeaux. Nous trouvons que l’algorithme des spectres jumeaux est le plus performant pour les deux types de compagnons testés : les compagnons méthaniques et non-méthaniques. Le rapport signal-sur-bruit de la détection a été amélioré d’un facteur allant jusqu’à 14 pour un compagnon méthanique et d’un facteur 2 pour un compagnon non-méthanique. Dernièrement, nous nous intéressons à certains problèmes liés à la séparation de la commande entre deux miroirs déformables dans le système OA de GPI. Nous présentons tout d’abord une méthode utilisant des calculs analytiques et des simulations Monte Carlo pour déterminer les paramètres clés du woofer tels que son diamètre, son nombre d’éléments actifs et leur course qui ont ensuite eu des répercussions sur le design général de l’instrument. Ensuite, le système étudié utilisant un reconstructeur de Fourier, nous proposons de séparer la commande entre les deux miroirs dans l’espace de Fourier et de limiter les modes transférés au woofer à ceux qu’il peut précisément reproduire. Dans le contexte de GPI, ceci permet de remplacer deux matrices de 1600×69 éléments nécessaires pour une séparation “classique” de la commande par une seule de 45×69 composantes et ainsi d’utiliser un processeur prêt à être utilisé plutôt qu’une architecture informatique plus complexe. / The main goal of this thesis is the improvement of high-contrast imaging techniques enabling the direct detection of faint companions at small separations from their host star. More precisely, it answers some questions linked to the development of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), a second generation instrument for the Gemini telescopes. This instrument will use an integral field spectrometer (IFS) to characterize the detected faint companions and to attenuate the speckle noise limiting their detection. Moreover, it will use a combination of two deformable mirrors, the woofer and the tweeter, in its adaptive optics (AO) system in order to reach the atmospheric turbulence correction sought. The woofer corrects the low spatial frequency high amplitude aberrations while the ones with a high frequency and a low amplitude are compensated by the tweeter. First, the high-contrast imaging performance achieved by current on-line IFS on 8-10 m telescopes are investigated through the observation of the faint companion to the star GQ Lup using the IFS NIFS and the AO system ALTAIR presently in function on the telescope Gemini North. The angular differential imaging (ADI) technique is used to reach an attenuation of the speckle noise by a factor of 2 to 6. The JHK spectra obtained were used to constrain the mass of the companion to 8−60 MJup making it most likely a brown dwarf. MJup represents the mass of Jupiter. Current on-line IFS were conceived to be versatile so that they could be used in many astrophysical fields. Hence, their conception was not optimized for high-contrast imaging. The second part of this thesis objective was to build and test in the laboratory an IFS optimized for this task. Four speckle suppression algorithms were tested on the resulting data: the simple difference, the double difference, the spectral deconvolution and a novel algorithm developed in this thesis dubbed the spectral twin algorithm. We found the spectral twin algorithm to be the most efficient to detect both types of companions tested: methanated and non-methanated. The detection signal-to-noise ratio was improved by a factor up to 14 for the methanated companion and up to 2 for a non-methanated one. In the last part, problems linked to the wavefront correction split between two deformable mirrors are investigated. First, a method allowing to select the woofer key parameters such as its diameter, its number of actuators and its required stroke which influenced the overall instrument design is presented. Second, since GPI will use a Fourier reconstructor, we propose to split the command in the Fourier domain and to limit the modes sent to the woofer to the ones it can accurately reproduce. In GPI, this results in replacing two matrices of 1600×69 elements in the case of a classic command split scheme by a single matrix of 45×69 components with the proposed method.

No description available.

Un nouveau contrôleur de EMCCD (Electron multiplying Charge Coupled Device) est présenté. Il permet de diminuer significativement le bruit qui domine lorsque la puce EMCCD est utilisé pour du comptage de photons: le bruit d'injection de charge. À l'aide de ce contrôleur, une caméra EMCCD scientifique a été construite, caractérisée en laboratoire et testée à l'observatoire du mont Mégantic. Cette nouvelle caméra permet, entre autres, de réaliser des observations de la cinématique des galaxies par spectroscopie de champ intégral par interférométrie de Fabry-Perot en lumière Ha beaucoup plus rapidement, ou de galaxies de plus faible luminosité, que les caméras à comptage de photon basées sur des tubes amplificateurs. Le temps d'intégration nécessaire à l'obtention d'un rapport signal sur bruit donné est environ 4 fois moindre qu'avec les anciennes caméras. Les applications d'un tel appareil d'imagerie sont nombreuses: photométrie rapide et faible flux, spectroscopie à haute résolution spectrale et temporelle, imagerie limitée par la diffraction à partir de télescopes terrestres (lucky imaging), etc. D'un point de vue technique, la caméra est dominée par le bruit de Poisson pour les flux lumineux supérieurs à 0.002 photon/pixel/image. D'un autre côté, la raie d'hydrogène neutre (HI) à 21 cm a souvent été utilisée pour étudier la cinématique des galaxies. L'hydrogène neutre a l'avantage de se retrouver en quantité détectable au-delà du disque optique des galaxies. Cependant, la résolution spatiale de ces observations est moindre que leurs équivalents réalisés en lumière visible. Lors de la comparaison des données HI, avec des données à plus haute résolution, certaines différences étaient simplement attribuées à la faible résolution des observations HI. Le projet THINGS (The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey a observé plusieurs galaxies de l'échantillon SINGS (Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey). Les données cinématiques du projet THIGNS seront comparées aux données cinématiques obtenues en lumière Ha, afin de déterminer si la seule différence de résolution spatiale peut expliquer les différences observées. Les résultats montrent que des différences intrinsèques aux traceurs utilisées (hydrogène neutre ou ionisé), sont responsables de dissemblances importantes. La compréhension de ces particularités est importante: la distribution de la matière sombre, dérivée de la rotation des galaxies, est un test de certains modèles cosmologiques. / A new EMCCD (Electron multiplying Charge Coupled Device) controller is presented. It allows the EMCCD to be used for photon counting by drastically taking down its dominating source of noise : the clock induced charges. A new EMCCD camera was built using this controller. It has been characterized in laboratory and tested at the observatoire du mont Mégantic. When compared to the previous generation of photon counting cameras based on intensifier tubes, this new camera renders the observation of the galaxies kinematics with an integral field spectrometer with a Fabry-Perot interferometer in Ha light much faster, and allows fainter galaxies to be observed. The integration time required to reach a given signal-to-noise ratio is about 4 times less than with the intensifier tubes. Many applications could benefit of such a camera: fast, faint flux photometry, high spectral and temporal resolution spectroscopy, earth-based diffraction limited imagery (lucky imaging), etc. Technically, the camera is dominated by the shot noise for flux higher than 0.002 photon/pixel/image. The 21 cm emission line of the neutral hydrogen (HI) is often used to map the galaxies kinematics. The extent of the distribution of the neutral hydrogen in galaxies, which goes well beyond the optical disk, is one of the reasons this line is used so often. However, the spatial resolution of such observations is limited when compared to their optical equivalents. When comparing the HI data to higher resolution ones, some differences were simply attributed to the beam smearing of the HI caused by its lower resolution. The THINGS (The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey) project observed many galaxies of the SINGS (Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey) project. The kinematics of THINGS will be compared to the kinematic data of the galaxies obtained in Ha light. The comparison will try to determine whether the sole beam smearing is responsible of the differences observed. The results shows that intrinsic dissimilarities between the kinematical tracers used are responsible of some of the observed disagreements. The understanding of theses differences is of a high importance as the dark matter distribution, inferred from the rotation of the galaxies, is a test to some cosmological models.