Preserving the photometric integrity of companions in high-contrast imaging observations using locally optimized combination of images

Direct imaging and spectroscopy can advance our understanding of planet formation and migration through the detection and characterization of extrasolar planets on wide orbits. Accurate photometry and astrometry of detected companions are of crucial importance to derive the planet physical properties.We present an extension of the Locally optimized combination of images (LOCI) method to measure the highest-fidelity photometry as well as accurate astrometry of detected companions. This algorithm is also generalized to Integral-Field Spectrograph (IFS) data processing, giving advantages of a simultaneous angular and spectral differential imaging reduction, retrieving high-fidelity spectra from PSF-subtracted cubes. \ua9 2012 SPIE.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye