Related papers: Wavefront tolerances of space-based segmented tele…
Observing Earth-like exoplanets orbiting within the habitable zone of Sun-like stars and studying their atmospheres in reflected starlight requires contrasts of $\sim1\mathrm{e}{-10}$ in the visible. At such high contrast, starlight…
Future large segmented space telescopes and their coronagraphic instruments are expected to provide the resolution and sensitivity to observe Earth-like planets with a 10^10 contrast ratio at less than 100 mas from their host star. Advanced…
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 study a mid-order wavefront sensor (MOWFS) to address fine cophasing errors in exoplanet imaging with future large segmented aperture space telescopes. Observing Earth analogs around Sun-like stars requires contrasts down to $10^{-10}$…
Direct imaging and spectroscopy of Earth-like planets and young Jupiters require contrasts up to 10^6-10^10 at angular separations of a few dozen milliarcseconds. To achieve this goal, one of the most promising approaches consists of using…
Searching for nearby exoplanets with direct imaging is one of the major scientific drivers for both space and ground-based programs. While the second generation of dedicated high-contrast instruments on 8-m class telescopes is about to…
High-contrast imaging has been used to discover and characterize dozens of exoplanets to date. The primary limiting performance factor for these instruments is contrast, the ratio of exoplanet to host star brightness that an instrument can…
The EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer (EXCEDE) science mission concept uses a visible-wavelength Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph to enable high-contrast imaging of circumstellar debris systems…
Direct detection and spectroscopy of exoplanets requires high contrast imaging. For habitable exoplanets in particular, located at small angular separation from the host star, it is crucial to employ small inner working angle (IWA)…
Precision wavefront control on future segmented-aperture space telescopes presents significant challenges, particularly in the context of high-contrast exoplanet direct imaging. We present a new wavefront control architecture that…
High-contrast imaging provided by a coronagraph is critical for the direction imaging of the Earth-like planet orbiting its bright parent star. A major limitation for such direct imaging is the speckle noise that is induced from the…
Context. The next generation of space-borne instruments dedicated to the direct detection of exoplanets requires unprecedented levels of wavefront control precision. Coronagraphic wavefront sensing techniques for these instruments must…
The development of spaceborne coronagraphic technology is of paramount importance to the detection of habitable exoplanets in visible light. In space, coronagraphs are able to bypass the limitations imposed by the atmosphere to reach deeper…
Direct detection and detailed characterization of exoplanets using extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) is a key science goal of future extremely large telescopes (ELTs). However, wavefront errors will limit the sensitivity of this endeavor.…
Searching for nearby habitable worlds with direct imaging and spectroscopy will require a telescope large enough to provide angular resolution and sensitivity to planets around a significant sample of stars. Segmented telescopes are a…
High contrast imaging using coronagraphy is one of the main avenues to enable the search for life on extrasolar Earth analogs. The HiCAT testbed aims to demonstrate coronagraphy and wavefront control for segmented on-axis space telescopes…
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…
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…
Direct imaging of exoplanet systems requires the use of coronagraphs to reach high contrast levels (10^-8 to 10^-11) at small angular separations (0.1"). However, the performance of these devices is drastically limited by aberrations (in…
The detection of molecular species in the atmospheres of earth-like exoplanets orbiting nearby stars requires an optical system that suppresses starlight and maximizes the sensitivity to the weak planet signals at small angular separations.…