Related papers: Coronagraphic Low Order Wave Front Sensor : post-p…
Direct imaging of exoplanets represents a challenge for astronomical instrumentation due to the high-contrast ratio and small angular separation between the host star and the faint planet. Multi-star systems pose additional challenges for…
A vortex coronagraph is now available for high contrast observations with the Keck/NIRC2 instrument at L band. Reaching the optimal performance of the coronagraph requires fine control of the wavefront incident on the phase mask. In…
Coronagraph observations provide key information about the orientation of the Sun's magnetic field. Previous studies used various algorithms to segment quasi-radial features in coronagraph images and approximate their local plane-of-sky…
Differentiating between an exoplanet signal and residual speckle noise is a key challenge in high-contrast imaging. Speckles are due to a combination of fast, slow and static wavefront aberrations introduced by atmospheric turbulence and…
The use of Wavefront Sensors (WFS) is nowadays fundamental in the field of instrumental optics. This paper discusses the principle of an original and recently proposed new class of WFS. Their principle consists in evaluating the slopes of…
High contrast coronagraphic imaging is a challenging task for telescopes with central obscurations and thick spider vanes, such as the Subaru Telescope. Our group is currently assembling an extreme AO bench designed as an upgrade for the…
The detection and characterization of Earth-like exoplanets around Sun-like stars is a primary science motivation for the Habitable Worlds Observatory. However, the current best technology is not yet advanced enough to reach the 10^-10…
Images of the extended solar corona, as observed by white-light coronagraphs as observed by different white-light coronagraphs include the K- and F-corona and suffer from a radial variation in intensity. These images require separation of…
This work presents a high-resolution X-ray microtomography system that uses commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) CMOS image sensors as direct detectors, relying on the sensor s intrinsic resolution to achieve tomographic reconstructions without…
Context. In the context of direct imaging of exoplanets, coronagraphs are commonly proposed to reach the required very high contrast levels. However, wavefront aberrations induce speckles in their focal plane and limit their performance.…
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…
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…
High contrast imaging of extrasolar planets and circumstellar disks requires extreme wavefront stability. Such stability can be achieved with active wavefront control (WFC). The next generation of ground- and space-based telescopes will…
This work focuses on the combination of White Light (WL) and UV (Ly-alpha) coronagraphic images to demonstrate the capability to measure the solar wind speed in the inner corona directly with the ratio between these two images (a technique…
Exoplanetary science is a very active field of astronomy nowadays, with questions still opened such as how planetary systems form and evolve (occurrence, process), why such a diversity of exoplanets is observed (mass, radius, orbital…
The behavior of an adaptive optics (AO) system for ground-based high contrast imaging (HCI) dictates the achievable contrast of the instrument. In conditions where the coherence time of the atmosphere is short compared to the speed of the…
Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors (SHWS) are generally used to measure the wavefront curvature of light beams. Measurement accuracy and the sensitivity of these sensors are important factors for better wavefront sensing. In this study, we…
We compare coronagraph concepts and investigate their behavior and suitability for planet finder projects with Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs, 30-42 meters class telescopes). For this task, we analyze the impact of major error sources…
Speckle Noise is the dominant source of error in high contrast imaging with adaptive optics system. We discuss the potential for wavefront sensing telemetry to calibrate speckle noise with sufficient precision and accuracy so that it can be…
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…