Program: GN-2009B-DD-1

The recent discovery of a planetary system around HR 8799 in direct imaging, resembling, in many ways, a scaled up version of our own solar system, has meant a huge step forward in detailed studies of exo-solar planets. Spectra of these objects are urgently needed, both to confirm the mass determinations (which are based on age estimates and luminosity measurements, but are degenerate between age and luminosity) and to measure atmospheric spectral features (to discriminate between temperature, non LTE atmospheres, and the presence of dust, either in the atmosphere or around the planet). These are high contrast observations, stretching the instrumentation to its extreme limits. We propose to obtain spectra of two of the three planets in the HR 8799 system, using the Altair AO system, and the NIFS intergral field spectrograph, which is also equipped with a coronagraphic mask. With our extensive experience in making high contrast observations with SINFONI (for both AB Dor C and 2M1207b), we are confident that we can obtain a robust, good SNR spectrum of both these planetary candidates in a few hours of Gemini time. This is one the highest impact observations that can be carried out with NIFS, and will serve as a brilliant example of the instrument's capability.