Related papers: The Dispersion Leverage Coronagraph (DLC): A nulli…
Coronagraphy is a very efficient technique for identifying and characterizing extra-solar planets orbiting in the habitable zone of their parent star, especially when used in a space environment. An important family of coronagraphs is based…
Transiting exoplanets provide unparalleled access to the fundamental parameters of both extrasolar planets and their host stars. We present limb-darkening coefficients (LDCs) for the exoplanet hunting CoRot and Kepler missions. The LDCs are…
Imaging faint objects, such as exoplanets or disks, around nearby stars is extremely challenging because host star images are dominated by the telescope diffraction pattern. Using a coronagraph is an efficient solution for removing…
Direct imaging of exoplanets requires very high contrast levels, which are obtained using coronagraphs. But residual quasi-static aberrations create speckles in the focal plane downstream of the coronagraph which mask the planet. This…
Future large space- or ground-based telescopes will offer the resolution and sensitivity to probe the habitable zone of a large sample of nearby stars for exo-Earth imaging. To this end, such facilities are expected to be equipped with a…
The requirements on space missions designed to study Terrestrial exoplanets are discussed. We then investigate whether the design of such a mission, specifically the Darwin nulling interferometer, can be carried out in a simplified…
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…
(Abridged) Context: In the previous paper in this series, we identified that a pentagonal arrangement of five telescopes, using a kernel-nulling beam combiner, shows notable advantages for some important performance metrics for a…
Of the over 5000 exoplanets that have been detected, only about a dozen have ever been directly imaged. Earth-like exoplanets are on the order of 10 billion times fainter than their host star in visible and near-infrared, requiring a…
Coronagraphic techniques are required to detect exoplanets with future Extremely Large Telescopes. One concept, the Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (APLC), is combining an apodizer in the entrance aperture and a Lyot opaque mask in the…
The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) will be the first high-performance stellar coronagraph using active wavefront control for deep starlight suppression in space, providing unprecedented levels of…
The unparalleled theoretical performance of an ideal vector vortex coronagraph makes it one of the most promising technologies for directly imaging exoplanets with a future, off-axis space telescope. However, the image contrast required for…
The Zero Contrast Grating (ZCG) is a promising candidate for moded and dispersive mid-infrared (MIR) photonics for its broadband transmittance and reflectance greater than 99.9%. The optimal grating design including refractive index and…
In ground based astronomical observations, atmospheric dispersion shifts the image of the object at different wavelengths due to the wavelength-dependent index of refraction of the atmosphere. Thus, using an Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector…
For diffraction-limited optical systems an accurate physical optics model is necessary to properly evaluate instrument performance. Astronomical observatories outfitted with coronagraphs for direct exoplanet imaging require physical optics…
The direct detection and characterization of exoplanets will be a major scientific driver over the next decade, involving the development of very large telescopes and requires high-contrast imaging close to the optical axis. Some complex…
We present a publicly available software package developed for exploring apodized pupil Lyot coronagraph (APLC) solutions for various telescope architectures. In particular, the package optimizes the apodizer component of the APLC for a…
ERIS is a diffraction limited thermal infrared imager and spectrograph for the Very Large Telescope UT4. One of the science cases for ERIS is the detection and characterization of circumstellar structures and exoplanets around bright stars…
Small-angle coronagraphy is technically and scientifically appealing because it enables the use of smaller telescopes, allows covering wider wavelength ranges, and potentially increases the yield and completeness of circumstellar…
iLocater is a near-infrared, extremely precise radial velocity (EPRV) spectrograph under construction for the dual 8.4 m diameter Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The instrument will undertake precision radial velocity studies of Earth-like…