High Contrast Imaging of Accelerating Stars

Indirect measurements may be used to infer the presence of directly imageable companions around nearby stars. Whether using Doppler radial velocity data or astrometric wobbles in the plane of the sky, these dynamical signatures provide important clues regarding the occurrence and mass distribution of extrasolar planets. In this presentation, I will describe a ground-based high-contrast imaging observing program to detect and study low-mass companions to accelerating stars. We report the detection of several probable multi-stellar systems including new hierarchical triples that will enable dynamical mass measurements with relatively short time baselines. Such benchmark objects provide insights into the physics of stellar and substellar companion formation and evolution.