Related papers: Contrast Enhancement of Binary Star System Using a…

We present a new instrument, the "Stellar Double Coronagraph" (SDC), a flexible coronagraphic platform. Designed for Palomar Observatory's 200" Hale telescope, its two focal and pupil planes allow for a number of different observing…

We report on both high-precision photometry from the MOST space telescope and ground-based spectroscopy of the triple system delta Ori A consisting of a binary O9.5II+early-B (Aa1 and Aa2) with P = 5.7d, and a more distant tertiary (O9 IV P…

High-contrast imaging relies on advanced coronagraphs and adaptive optics (AO) to attenuate the starlight. However, residual aberrations, especially non-common path aberrations between the AO channel and the coronagraph channel, limit the…

Future high-contrast imaging spectroscopy with a large segmented telescope will be able to detect atmospheric molecules of Earth-like planets around G- or K-type main-sequence stars. Increasing the number of target planets will require a…

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) contains the only currently operating coronagraph in space that is not trained on the Sun. In an era of extreme--adaptive-optics--fed coronagraphs, and with the…

A robust post processing technique is mandatory to analyse the coronagraphic high contrast imaging data. Angular Differential Imaging (ADI) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) are the most used approaches to suppress the quasi-static…

Solar and stellar externally occulted coronagraphs share similar concepts, but are actually very different because of geometric characteristics. Solar occulters were first developed with a simple geometric model of diffraction perpendicular…

Context. High contrast imaging has thoroughly combed through the limited search space accessible with first-generation ground-based adaptive optics instruments and the Hubble Space Telescope. Only a few objects were discovered, and many…

Coronagraphy is an efficient technique for identifying and characterizing extra-solar planets orbiting in the habitable zone of their parent star. An important family of coronagraphs is based on amplitude or phase filters placed at an…

Imaging faint objects, such as exoplanets or disks, around nearby stars is extremely challenging because host star images are dominated by the telescope diffraction pattern. Using a coronagraph is an efficient solution for removing…

We present the fabrication and experimental demonstration of three free-standing binary shaped pupil mask coronagraphs, which are applicable for telescopes with partially obscured pupils. Three masks, designed to be complementary (labeled…

Direct imaging of extra-solar planets has now become a reality, especially with the deployment and commissioning of the first generation of specialized ground-based instruments such as the GPI, SPHERE, P1640 and SCExAO. These systems will…

High-contrast imaging from space must overcome two major noise sources to successfully detect a terrestrial planet angularly close to its parent star: photon noise from diffracted star light, and speckle noise from star light scattered by…

The exoplanetary science through direct imaging and spectroscopy will largely expand with the forthcoming development of new instruments at the VLT (SPHERE), Gemini (GPI), Subaru (HiCIAO), and Palomar (Project 1640) observatories. All these…

As the performance of coronagraphs improves, the achievable contrast is more and more dependent of the shape of the pupil. The future generation of space and ground based coronagraphic instruments will have to achieve high contrast levels…

The unparalleled photometric data obtained by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope has led to improved understanding of red-giant stars and binary stars. We discuss the characterization of known eccentric system, containing a solar-like…

Extreme adaptive optics systems are now in operation across the globe. These systems, capable of high order wavefront correction, deliver Strehl ratios of 90% in the near-infrared. Originally intended for the direct imaging of exoplanets,…

The Telescope to Observe Planetary Systems (TOPS) is a proposed space mission to image in the visible (0.4-0.9 micron) planetary systems of nearby stars simultaneously in 16 spectral bands (resolution R~20). For the ~10 most favorable…

The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) mission will require coronagraphs capable of suppressing starlight at the $\sim 10^{-10}$ contrast level to directly image exo-Earths. High contrast achromatic coronagraphic masks are the missing…

We report on the first daytime on-sky results of a Phase Knife stellar Coronagraph operated in the visible from the French-Italian Concordia station at Dome C of Antarctica. This site has proven in the last few years to offer excellent…