Observing Strategies for the NICI Campaign to Directly Image Extrasolar   Planets
  We discuss observing strategy for the Near Infrared Coronagraphic Imager (NICI) on the 8-m Gemini South telescope. NICI combines a number of techniques to attenuate starlight and suppress superspeckles: 1) coronagraphic imaging, 2) dual channel imaging for Spectral Differential Imaging (SDI) and 3) operation in a fixed Cassegrain rotator mode for Angular Differential Imaging (ADI). NICI will be used both in service mode and for a dedicated 50 night planet search campaign. While all of these techniques have been used individually in large planet-finding surveys, this is the first time ADI and SDI will be used with a coronagraph in a large survey. Thus, novel observing strategies are necessary to conduct a viable planet search campaign. 
Beth Biller, Etienne Artigau, Zahed Wahhaj, Markus Hartung, Michael   Liu, Laird M. Close, Mark R. Chun, Christ Ftaclas, Dou...