Interferometry and the search for extrasolar moons and life in the universe

 

Jeff Kuhn

IAC and University of Hawaii and Laboratory for Innovation in Optomechanics and LIOM team


jeff.reykuhn@yahoo.com

 

Abstract:

The Fizeau Direct Imager project at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias will create a 15-distributed-aperture telescope and powerful nulling interferometer for studies of exoplanets. The pathfinder to this project has been delivered to the IAC in the Canary Islands. This talk will describe our plans for bringing this telescope on-line in the next 18 months.


Short Bio:

Jeff’s 1981 PhD is in physics from Princeton. He’s  emeritus professor of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, where he was founder of the Advanced Technology Research Center of the Institute for Astronomy on Maui, and its director for 10 years. He is currently a distinguished senior researcher at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) and the ERA Chair and leader of the Laboratory for Innovation in Optomechanics at the IAC. He started the optical technology company MorphOptic, Inc. and the non-profit Planets Foundation. His publications encompass areas of solar, stellar and gravitational physics, polarimetry, IR optical and instrumentation technology, and signal detection. Kuhn is a Sloan Foundation grant recipient, winner of the Humboldt Prize (Germany), and Regents Prize (Hawaii).