The exoplanet science has received great benefit from the availability of AO instrumentation, especially with the building of the last generation of extreme AO systems. I this talk I summarize the main scientific results achieved in the last years with the direct imaging techniques, the perspectives for planet detection and characterization with future instrumentation, and the synergies with...
The SPHERE planet imager is now operating at the VLT since five years.
I will present here a description of the instrument and of its performance. Morover
I will introduce the data reduction methods needed to extract science result from
the instrument data. Finally I will review the main outcome obtained from the instrument in it operativity period.
The combination of transit surveys and radial-velocity programs has revolutionized our understanding of planets orbiting close to their host stars and our understanding of exoplanetary systems in general. However, a detailed comprehension of the orbital and physical properties and frequencies of extrasolar planets at orbital separations beyond that of Jupiter in the Solar System, and how they...
I will briefly discuss how detect and characterize very young planets. This requires to select the right targets and to use a multi-wavelength approach. I will illustrate the key observations using a few examples.
