Paving the Road to the Habitable Worlds Observatory with High-resolution Imaging. I. New and Archival Speckle Observations of Potential HWO Target Stars
March 2026 • 2026AJ....171..174H
Abstract • One of the key goals of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is to directly image about 25 potentially habitable exoplanets and determine their properties. This challenge will require a large survey of nearby, bright stars: ∼100 according to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey. To ensure the success of the mission and to help guide design decisions, the stellar multiplicity of the target stars must be well-understood. To this end, we present optical speckle imaging of stars in the NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program provisional HWO star list, which is currently the Tier 1 target list for the HWO Target Stars and Systems Sub-Working Group. We obtained new observations using 'Alopeke and Zorro at Gemini Observatory and queried the Exoplanet Follow-up Observing Program Archive for archival observations, resulting in speckle imaging data for 80 of the 164 stars. We confirmed one candidate companion detected previously by Gaia (HD 90089) and obtained an ambiguous detection of a known companion (HD 212330). To examine our sensitivity to companions, we simulated stellar companions down to ∼0.1 M⊙ for each target and found that 75%─85% would be detected in our speckle images; the remaining simulated companions are either too faint or too close-in, and will require follow-up using other methods such as long-term spectroscopic measurements and space-based techniques. This work represents a first step toward surveying potential HWO targets for close-in stellar companions and helping to inform the target selection process for the HWO direct-imaging survey, bringing us closer toward the discovery of potential habitable worlds.
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