High-contrast observations with ELT-ANDES: exoplanet yields with preliminary end-to-end simulations

Combining high-contrast imaging with high-dispersion spectroscopy is a promising solution to detect exoplanets and spectrally analyze their atmosphere. Such an approach is envisioned for ELT-ANDES, a high-resolution spectrograph with high-contrast capabilities. In the near infrared, this facility will feature a single-conjugate adaptive optics (SCAO) system, a possible coronagraph module, and an integral field unit (IFU) spectrograph with a resolving power of 100000. Such a combination is expected to enable the observations of planets around nearby stars with a planet-to-star flux ratio, i.e. contrast, down to 10-7 in Y, J and H bands. This study assesses the capabilities of the ANDES SCAO-IFU module, both with and without the coronagraph, for directly detecting young giant exoplanets. To this aim, we have developed end-to-end simulations of the instrument to model high-contrast observations under different observing conditions and for different astrophysical scenes. With the produced data, the signal from the injected exoplanets is retrieved by using the molecular mapping technique. Based on the results, we present the detection limits for different types of planetary companions with ANDES. Finally, our exoplanet yield estimates are compared with the performance of current high-contrast instruments and upcoming ELT facilities working in the near infrared, highlighting the potential of ANDES for exoplanet high-contrast observations.