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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…
Direct imaging of Earth-like planets from space requires dedicated observatories, combining large segmented apertures with instruments and techniques such as coronagraphs, wavefront sensors, and wavefront control in order to reach the high…
We propose a class of graded coronagraphic "amplitude" image masks for a high throughput Lyot-type coronagraph that transmits light from an annular region around an extended source and suppresses light, with extremely high ratio, from…
This year, a second generation of coronagraphs dedicated to high-contrast direct imaging of exoplanets is starting operations. Among them, SPHERE, installed at the focus of the UT3 Very Large Telescope, reaches unprecedented contrast ratios…
Exoplanet research is essential for understanding planetary formation and the potential for life beyond our solar system. The direct imaging method captures exoplanet light while minimizing light from the host star. This is conventionally…
Detection and characterization of exoplanets by direct imaging requires a coronagraph designed to deliver high contrast at small angular separation. To achieve this, an accurate control of low order aberrations, such as pointing and focus…
The Optimal Optical CoronagraphWorkshop 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 ideas.…
Direct observation of extra-solar planets (exoplanets) is essential to understand how planetary systems were born, how they evolve, and ultimately, to identify biological signatures on these planets. However, the enormous contrast in flux…
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 imaging of exoplanets is crucial for advancing our understanding of planetary systems beyond our solar system, but it faces significant challenges due to the high contrast between host stars and their planets. Wavefront aberrations…
Specific high contrast imaging instruments are mandatory to characterize circumstellar disks and exoplanets around nearby stars. Coronagraphs are commonly used in these facilities to reject the diffracted light of an observed star and…
High-contrast coronagraphy will be needed to image and characterize faint extra-solar planetary systems. Coronagraphy is a rapidly evolving field, and many enhanced alternatives to the classical Lyot coronagraph have been proposed in the…
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…
We propose a solution to the problem of astrometric and photometric calibration of coronagraphic images with a simple optical device which, in theory, is easy to use. Our design uses the Fraunhofer approximation of Fourier optics. Placing a…
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 will be a challenge for future ELTs, because their vibrations create low-order aberrations - mostly tip/tilt - that reduce coronagraphic performances at 1.2 lambda/D and above. A Low-Order WaveFront Sensor (LOWFS) is…
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…
The 2020 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics endorsed space-based high contrast imaging for the detection and characterization of habitable exoplanets as a key priority for the upcoming decade. To advance the maturity of starlight…
Directly imaging extrasolar planets using a monolithic optical telescope avoids many pitfalls of space interferometry and opens up the prospect of visible light studies of extrasolar planetary systems. Future astronomical missions may…
Imaging the planets that orbit around other stars requires blocking the host star which is usually 8-10 orders of magnitude brighter than the planets. This is achieved with the help of a stellar coronagraph. In the current work, a concept…