Kernel-nulling paper accepted for publication by Astronomy & Astrophysics

It is my great pleasure to be able announce that the paper Mike Ireland (ANU) and I wrote, entitled “Kernel-nulling for a robust direct interferometric detection of extrasolar planets” has been accepted for publication by Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The paper introduces a baseline class of nulling-interferometers producing outputs that can be robustly calibrated. These new observable quantities exhibit properties that are similar to closure- and kernel-phase, while taking advantage of the use of a true nulling stage. The first version of our paper had been previously announced. The (updated) preprint of the paper is now available on arXiv.

It is fantastic to have this piece accepted: the quest for robust high-contrast solutions has been on my mind for a while… And now that we know that at least one solution exists, surely others must do too!

Conclusion slide from a presentation I gave, describing Kernel-nulling and the VIKiNG instrument concept it leads to for VLTI.