  Direct detection of thermal emission from nearby hot Jupiters has greatly
advanced our knowledge of extrasolar planets in recent years. Since hot Jupiter
systems can be regarded as analogs of high contrast binaries, ground-based
infrared long baseline interferometers have the potential to resolve them and
detect their thermal emission with precision closure phase - a method that is
immune to the systematic errors induced by the Earth's atmosphere. In this
work, we present closure phase studies toward direct detection of nearby hot
Jupiters using the CHARA interferometer array outfitted with the MIRC
instrument. We carry out closure phase simulations and conduct a large number
of observations for the best candidate {\upsion} And. Our experiments suggest
the method is feasible with highly stable and precise closure phases. However,
we also find much larger systematic errors than expected in the observations,
most likely caused by dispersion across different wavelengths. We find that
using higher spectral resolution modes (e.g., R=150) can significantly reduce
the systematics. By combining all calibrators in an observing run together, we
are able to roughly recalibrate the lower spectral resolution data, allowing us
to obtain upper limits of the star-planet contrast ratios of {\upsion} And b
across the H band. The data also allow us to get a refined stellar radius of
1.625\pm0.011 R\odot. Our best upper limit corresponds to a contrast ratio of
2.1\times10^3:1 with 90% confidence level at 1.52{\mu}m, suggesting that we are
starting to have the capability of constraining atmospheric models of hot
Jupiters with interferometry. With recent and upcoming improvements of
CHARA/MIRC, the prospect of detecting emission from hot Jupiters with closure
phases is promising.
