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2568196 
Journal Article 
EPICS, the exoplanet imager for the E-ELT 
Kasper, ME; Beuzit, JLuc; Verinaud, C; Yaitskova, N; Baudoz, P; Boccaletti, A; Gratton, RG; Hubin, N; Kerber, F; Roelfsema, R; Schmid, HM; Thatte, NA; Dohlen, K; Feldt, M; Venema, L; Wolf, S 
2008 
Unk 
Proceedings of SPIE
ISSN: 0277-786X
EISSN: 1996-756X 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF PHOTO-OPTICAL INSTRUMENTATION ENGINEERS (SPIE) 
7015 
WOS:000261491700046 
Presently, dedicated instrument developments at large telescopes (SPHERE for the VLT, GPI for Gemini) are about to discover and explore self-luminous giant planets by direct imaging and spectroscopy. The next generation of 30m-40m ground-based telescopes, the Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) have the potential to dramatically enlarge the discovery space towards older giant planets seen in reflected light and ultimately even a small number of rocky planets. EPICS is a proposed instrument for the European ELT, dedicated to the detection and characterization of expolanets by direct imaging and spectroscopy. ESO recently launched a phase-A study for EPICS with a large European consortium which - by simulations and demonstration experiments - will investigate state-of-the-art diffraction and speckle suppression techniques to deliver highest contrasts. The final result of the study in 2010 will be a conceptual design and a development plan for the instrument. Here we present first results from the phase-A study and discuss the main challenges and science capabilities of EPICS. 
XAO; ELT; high contrast imaging; extrasolar planets; instrumentation; adaptive optics