"Chemical precompression" through introducing impurity atoms into hydrogen has been proposed as a method to facilitate metallization of hydrogen under external pressure. Here we selected Ar(H-2)(2), a hydrogen-rich compound with molecular hydrogen, to explore the effect of "doping" on the intermolecular interaction of H-2 molecules and metallization at ultrahigh pressure. Ar(H-2)(2) was studied experimentally by synchrotron X-ray diffraction to 265 GPa, by Raman and optical absorption spectroscopy to 358 GPa, and theoretically using the density-functional theory. Our measurements of the optical bandgap and the vibron frequency show that Ar(H-2)(2) retains 2-eV bandgap and H-2 molecular units up to 358 GPa. This is attributed to reduced intermolecular interactions between H-2 molecules in Ar(H-2)(2) compared with that in solid H-2. A splitting of the molecular vibron mode above 216 GPa suggests an orientational ordering transition, which is not accompanied by a change in lattice symmetry. The experimental and theoretical equations of state of Ar(H-2)(2) provide direct insight into the structure and bonding of this hydrogen-rich system, suggesting a negative chemical pressure on H-2 molecules brought about by doping of Ar.

Dias and Silvera (Research Article, 17 February 2017, p. 715) report on the observation of the Wigner-Huntington transition to metallic hydrogen at 495 gigapascals at 5.5 and 83 kelvin. Here, we show that the claim of metallic behavior is not supported by the presented data, which are scarce, contradictory, and do not prove the presence of hydrogen in the high-pressure cavity.

The next generation of extremely large telescopes (ELTs) have the potential to image habitable rocky planets, if suitably optimized. This will require the development of fast high order "extreme" adaptive optics systems for the ELTs. Located near the excellent site of the future GMT, the Magellan AO system (MagAO) is an ideal on-sky testbed for high contrast imaging development. Here we discuss planned upgrades to MagAO. These include improvements in WFS sampling (enabling correction of more modes) and an increase in speed to 2000 Hz, as well as an H2RG detector upgrade for the Clio infrared camera. This NSF funded project, MagAO-2K, is planned to be on-sky in November 2016 and will significantly improve the performance of MagAO at short wavelengths. Finally, we describe MagAO-X, a visible-wavelength extreme-AO "afterburner" system under development. MagAO-X will deliver Strehl ratios of over 80% in the optical and is optimized for visible light coronagraphy.

The exceptional ability of carbon to form sp(2) and sp(3) bonding states leads to a great structural and chemical diversity of carbon-bearing phases at nonambient conditions. Here we use laser-heated diamond-anvil cells combined with synchrotron x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and first-principles calculations to explore phase transitions in CaCO3 at P > 40 GPa. We find that postaragonite CaCO3 transforms to the previously predicted P2(1)/c CaCO3 with sp(3)-hybridized carbon at 105 GPa (similar to 30 GPa higher than the theoretically predicted crossover pressure). The lowest-enthalpy transition path to P2(1)/c CaCO3 includes reoccurring sp(2) and sp3 CaCO3 intermediate phases and transition states, as revealed by our variable-cell nudged-elastic-band simulation. Raman spectra of P2(1)/c CaCO3 show an intense band at 1025 cm(-1), which we assign to the symmetric -O stretching vibration based on empirical and first-principles calculations. This Raman band has a frequency that is similar to 20% lower than the symmetric C-O stretching in sp(2) CaCO3 due to the C-O bond length increase across the sp(2)-sp(3) transition and can be used as a fingerprint of tetrahedrally coordinated carbon in other carbonates.

The characterization of exozodiacal light emission is both important for the understanding of planetary systems evolution and for the preparation of future space missions aiming to characterize low mass planets in the habitable zone of nearby main sequence stars. The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) exozodi survey aims at providing a ten-fold improvement over current state of the art, measuring dust emission levels down to a typical accuracy of similar to 12 zodis per star, for a representative ensemble of similar to 30+ high priority targets. Such measurements promise to yield a final accuracy of about 2 zodis on the median exozodi level of the targets sample. Reaching a 1. measurement uncertainty of 12 zodis per star corresponds to measuring interferometric cancellation ("null") levels, i.e visibilities at the few 100 ppm uncertainty level. We discuss here the challenges posed by making such high accuracy mid-infrared visibility measurements from the ground and present the methodology we developed for achieving current best levels of 500 ppm or so. We also discuss current limitations and plans for enhanced exozodi observations over the next few years at LBTI.

Transition disks, protoplanetary disks with inner clearings, are promising objects in which to directly image forming planets. The high contrast imaging technique of non-redundant masking is well posed to detect planetary mass companions at several to tens of AU in nearby transition disks. We present non-redundant masking observations of the T Cha and LkCa 15 transition disks, both of which host posited sub-stellar mass companions. However, due to a loss of information intrinsic to the technique, observations of extended sources (e.g. scattered light from disks) can be misinterpreted as moving companions. We discuss tests to distinguish between these two scenarios, with applications to the T Cha and LkCa 15 observations. We argue that a static, forward-scattering disk can explain the T Cha data, while LkCa 15 is best explained by multiple orbiting companions.

The iron spin transition directly affects properties of lower mantle minerals and can thus alter geophysical and geochemical characteristics of the deep Earth. While the spin transition in ferropericlase has been documented at P similar to 60GPa and 300K, experimental evidence for spin transitions in other rock-forming minerals, such as bridgmanite and post-perovskite, remains controversial. Multiple valence, spin, and coordination states of iron in bridgmanite and post-perovskite are difficult to resolve with conventional spin probing techniques. Optical spectroscopy, on the other hand, can discriminate between high and low spin and between ferrous and ferric iron at different sites. Here we establish the optical signature of low spin Fe3+O6, a plausible low spin unit in bridgmanite and post-perovskite, by optical absorption experiments in diamond anvil cells. We show that the optical absorption of Fe3+O6 in new aluminous phase (NAL) is very sensitive to the iron spin state and may represent a model behavior of bridgmanite and post-perovskite across the spin transition. Specifically, an absorption band centered at similar to 19,000cm(-1) is characteristic of the (T2gT1g)-T-2-T-2 ((2)A(2g)) transition in low spin Fe3+ in NAL at 40GPa, constraining the crystal field splitting energy of low spin Fe3+ to similar to 22,200cm(-1), which we independently confirm by first-principles calculations. Together with available information on the electronic structure of Fe3+O6 compounds, we show that the spin-pairing energy of Fe3+ in an octahedral field is similar to 20,000-23,000cm(-1). This implies that octahedrally coordinated Fe3+ in bridgmanite is low spin at P>similar to 40GPa.

NASA has funded a project called the Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems (HOSTS) to survey nearby solar type stars to determine the amount of warm zodiacal dust in their habitable zones. The goal is not only to determine the luminosity distribution function but also to know which individual stars have the least amount of zodiacal dust. It is important to have this information for future missions that directly image exoplanets as this dust is the main source of astrophysical noise for them. The HOSTS project utilizes the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), which consists of two 8.4-m apertures separated by a 14.4-m baseline on Mt. Graham, Arizona. The LBTI operates in a nulling mode in the mid-infrared spectral window (8-13 mu m), in which light from the two telescopes is coherently combined with a 180 degree phase shift between them, producing a dark fringe at the location of the target star. In doing so the starlight is greatly reduced, increasing the contrast, analogous to a coronagraph operating at shorter wavelengths. The LBTI is a unique instrument, having only three warm reflections before the starlight reaches cold mirrors, giving it the best photometric sensitivity of any interferometer operating in the mid-infrared. It also has a superb Adaptive Optics (AO) system giving it Strehl ratios greater than 98% at 10 mu m. In 2014 into early 2015 LBTI was undergoing commissioning. The HOSTS project team passed its Operational Readiness Review (ORR) in April 2015. The team recently published papers on the target sample, modeling of the nulled disk images, and initial results such as the detection of warm dust around eta Corvi. Recently a paper was published on the data pipeline and on-sky performance. An additional paper is in preparation on beta Leo. We will discuss the scientific and programmatic context for the LBTI project, and we will report recent progress, new results, and plans for the science verification phase that started in February 2016, and for the survey.

The importance for the global carbon cycle, the P-T phase diagram of CaCO3 has been under extensive investigation since the invention of the high-pressure techniques. However, this study is far from being completed. In the present work, we show the existence of two new high-pressure polymorphs of CaCO3. The crystal structure prediction performed here reveals a new polymorph corresponding to distorted aragonite structure and named aragonite-II. In situ diamond anvil cell experiments confirm the presence of aragonite-II at 35 GPa and allow identification of another high-pressure polymorph at 50 GPa, named CaCO3-VII. CaCO3-VII is a structural analogue of CaCO3-P2(1)/c-1, predicted theoretically earlier. The P-T phase diagram obtained based on a quasi-harmonic approximation shows the stability field of CaCO3-VII and aragonite-II at 30-50 GPa and 0-1200 K. Synthesized earlier in experiments on cold compression of calcite, CaCO3-VI was found to be metastable in the whole pressure temperature range.

Dichalcogenides are known to exhibit layered solid phases, at ambient and high pressures, where 2D layers of chemically bonded formula units are held together by van derWaals forces. These materials are of great interest for solid-state sciences and technology, along with other 2D systems such as graphene and phosphorene. SiS2 is an archetypal model system of the most fundamental interest within this ensemble. Recently, high pressure (GPa) phases with Si in octahedral coordination by S have been theoretically predicted and also experimentally found to occur in this compound. At variance with stishovite in SiO2, which is a 3D network of SiO6 octahedra, the phases with octahedral coordination in SiS2 are 2D layered. Very importantly, this type of semiconducting material was theoretically predicted to exhibit continuous bandgap closing with pressure to a poor metallic state at tens of GPa. We synthesized layered SiS2 with octahedral coordination in a diamond anvil cell at 7.5-9 GPa, by laser heating together elemental S and Si at 1300-1700 K. Indeed, Raman spectroscopy up to 64.4 GPa is compatible with continuous bandgap closing in this material with the onset of either weak metallicity or of a narrow bandgap semiconductor state with a large density of defect-induced, intra-gap energy levels, at about 57 GPa. Importantly, our investigation adds up to the fundamental knowledge of layered dichalcogenides. Published by AIP Publishing.