Related papers: Performance predictions and contrast limits for an…
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…
Searching for signs of life is a primary goal of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). However, merely detecting oxygen, methane, or other widely discussed biosignatures is insufficient evidence for a biosphere. In parallel with…
Imaging terrestrial exoplanets around nearby stars is a formidable technical challenge, requiring the development of coronagraphs to suppress the stellar halo of diffracted light at the location of the planet. In this review, we derive the…
Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will search for biosignatures from Earth-size exoplanets in the habitable zones of nearby stars. The wavelength range for biosignatures used by the HabEx and LUVOIR mission concept studies was 200 nm to 2…
We propose 730 nm high-contrast spectroscopic observations of selected self-luminous directly-imaged planets as a key test of the Roman Coronagraph's planet characterization capabilities. The planet sample draws from ground-based IR…
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…
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 present our analysis of how the detectability of carbon dioxide (CO2) on an Earth-like planet varies with respect to signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), wavelength, and molecular abundance. Using the Bayesian Analysis for Remote Biosignature…
The European Research and Development for Space based High Contrast Imaging II Workshop, held at MPIA in May 2025, advanced Europe strategic coordination in support of future exoplanet imaging missions such as the Habitable Worlds…
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 Astro2020 decadal survey recommended an infrared, optical, ultra-violet (IR/O/UV) telescope with a $\sim$6~m inscribed diameter and equipped with a coronagraph instrument to directly image exoEarths in the habitable zone of their host…
Constraints on the masses of exoplanets directly imaged and characterized by the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) are crucial for categorizing these planets and interpreting their spectra. In particular, achieving a mass measurement with…
The primary mission of the Habitable World Observatory (HWO) will be to constrain the prevalence of life on Earth-like planets. These planets will be subject to impacts by energetic particles generated from coronal mass ejection (CME)…
Among the many recommendations of the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020, we found that a priority area of research is to pave the pathways towards finding and characterizing habitable worlds. In this context, we aim to…
Exoplanet direct imaging allows us to directly probe and characterize an exoplanet's atmosphere, searching for signs of life in its atmospheric signatures. Directly imaging an Earth-like planet around a Sun-like star requires reaching…
We present recent laboratory results demonstrating high-contrast coronagraphy for the future space-based large IR/Optical/Ultraviolet telescope recommended by the Decadal Survey. The High-contrast Imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes…
The space coronagraph optical bench (SCoOB) at the University of Arizona is a high-contrast imaging testbed designed to operate in a vacuum to obtain a contrast better than 1e-8 in optical wavelengths using vector vortex coronagraph (VVC)…
We assess archival high-energy data for key stars on the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) Target Stars and Systems 2025 list, as stellar radiation is critical to shaping and interpreting planetary atmospheres. Using a sample of 98 nearby…
Instrumentation techniques in the field of direct imaging of exoplanets have greatly advanced over the last two decades. Two of the four NASA-commissioned large concept studies involve a high-contrast instrument for the imaging and spectral…
Diluted arrays of many optical apertures will be able to provide h igh-resolution snapshot images if the beams are combined according to the densified-pupil scheme. We show that the same principle can also provide coronagraphic images, for…