Abstract

During the last years thousands of exoplanetary systems have been found. The circumstellar disks around young stars, are a key aspect in the planet formation processes. The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) project's goal is to spatially resolve the Hill sphere of a forming planet, at near and mid-infrared wavelengths and the participation of Chilean researchers in the beginning of PFI represents a unique opportunity to push forward technology development in Chile. The goal of NPF project, composed of astronomers and engineers, is to develop a proof of concept for PFI and acquire the know-how in carbon fiber and glass based mirrors. In order to reduce the costs associated with mirrors when manufacturing them outside of Chile.