Related papers: An Eight-Octant Phase-Mask Coronagraph
This paper introduces an analytical method to calculate segment-level wavefront error tolerances in order to enable the detection of faint extra-solar planets using segmented telescopes in space. This study provides a full treatment of…
The raw coronagraphic performance of current high-contrast imaging instruments is limited by the presence of a quasi-static speckle (QSS) background, resulting from instrumental non-common path errors (NCPEs). Rapid development of efficient…
For the technology development of the mission EXCEDE (EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer) - a 0.7 m telescope equipped with a Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization Coronagraph (PIAA-C) and a 2000-element MEMS deformable…
Direct imaging of exo-Earths and search for life is one of the most exciting and challenging objectives for future space observatories. Segmented apertures in space will be required to reach the needed large diameters beyond the…
Optical observations of solar corona provide key information on its magnetic geometry. The large-scale open field of the corona plays an important role in shaping the ambient solar wind and constraining the propagation dynamics of the…
For direct imaging of exoplanets, Scalar Vortex Coronagraphs (SVCs) are an attractive alternative to the popularly used Vector Vortex Coronagraphs (VVCs). This is primarily because they are able to induce the same phase ramp regardless of…
The world's first ever ''adaptive stellar coronagraph'' facility will be the PLACID instrument, installed on Turkey's new national observatory 4-m DAG telescope. PLACID incorporates a customized spatial light modulator (SLM) acting as a…
Direct exo-Earth imaging is a key science goal for astronomy in the next decade. This ambitious task imposes a target contrast of ~10^-7 at wavelengths from I to J-band. In our prior study, we determined that polarization aberrations can…
The electric field conjugation (EFC) algorithm has shown promise for removing scattered starlight from high-contrast imaging measurements, both in numerical simulations and laboratory experiments. To prepare for the deployment of EFC using…
We present the experimental production and characterization of a dense cold atomic cloud of \(^{88}\text{Sr}\) atoms, optimized for the future studies of light transport in highly dense regimes. Using narrow-line molasses on the 689 nm…
This paper presents initial results from the ESA-funded ``SUPPPPRESS'' project, which aims to develop high-performance liquid-crystal coronagraphs for direct imaging of Earth-like exoplanets in reflected light. The project focuses on…
We study properties of the human electrocardiogram under the working hypothesis that fluctuations beyond the regular structure of single cardiac cycles are unpredictable. On this background we discuss the possibility to use the phase space…
Magnetoencephalography using optically pumped magnetometers (OPM-MEG) is gaining significant traction as a neuroimaging tool, with the potential for improved performance and practicality compared to conventional instrumentation. However,…
Context: The detection and characterization of Earth-like exoplanets (exoEarths) from space requires exquisite wavefront stability at contrast levels of $10^{-10}$. On segmented telescopes in particular, aberrations induced by cophasing…
The Optimal Optical Coronagraph (OOC) Workshop at the Lorentz Center in September 2017 in Leiden, the Netherlands gathered a diverse group of 25 researchers working on exoplanet instrumentation to stimulate the emergence and sharing of new…
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…
We present a study of Lyot style (i.e., classical, band-limited, and Gaussian occulter) coronagraphy on extremely large, highly-segmented telescopes. We show that while increased telescope diameter is always an advantage for high dynamic…
Active coronagraphy is deemed to play a key role for the next generation of high-contrast instruments, notably in order to deal with large segmented mirrors that might exhibit time-dependent pupil merit function, caused by missing or…
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…
We present a promising approach to the extremely fast sensing and correction of small wavefront errors in adaptive optics systems. As our algorithm's computational complexity is roughly proportional to the number of actuators, it is…