Related papers: Spiderweb Masks for High-Contrast Imaging

We present yet another new family of masks for high-contrast imaging as required for the to-be-built terrestrial planet finder space telescope. The ``best'' design involves a square entrance pupil having a 4-vane spider, a square…

We present here new experimental results on high contrast imaging of 10^{-7} at 4.5Lambda/D (Lambda = 0.820 microns) by combining a circular focal plane mask (coronagraph) of 2.5Lambda/D diameter and a multi-Gaussian pupil plane mask. Both…

Gaussian aperture pupil masks (GAPMs) can in theory achieve the contrast requisite for directly imaging an extrasolar planet. We use lab tests and simulations to further study their possible place as a high contrast imaging technique. We…

Gaussian aperture pupil masks (GAPMs) can in theory achieve the contrast requisite for directly imaging an extrasolar planet around a nearby solar type star. We outline the process of designing, fabricating, and testing a GAPM for use on…

The realization that direct imaging of extrasolar planets could be technologically feasible within the next decade or so has inspired a great deal of recent research into high-contrast imaging. We ourselves have contributed several design…

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…

We present the first laboratory experiments using a notch-filter mask, a coronagraphic image mask that can produce infinite dynamic range in an ideal Lyot coronagraph according to scalar diffraction theory. We fabricated the first…

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…

Gaussian aperture pupil masks (GAPMs) can in theory achieve the contrast requisite for directly imaging an extrasolar planet. We outline the process of fabricating and testing a GAPM for use on the Penn State near-IR Imager and Spectrograph…

The high-contrast coronagraph for direct imaging earth-like exoplanet at the visible needs a contrast of 10^(-10) at a small angular separation of 4 lambda/D or less. Here we report our recent laboratory experiment that is close to the…

Direct detection of extrasolar planets will require imaging systems capable of unprecedented contrast. Apodized pupils provide an attractive way to achieve such contrast but they are difficult, perhaps impossible, to manufacture to the…

We propose a new approach for high-contrast imaging at the diffraction limit using segmented telescopes in a modest observation bandwidth. This concept, named "spectroscopic fourth-order coronagraphy", is based on a fourth-order coronagraph…

This tutorial is an introduction to High-Contrast Imaging, a technique that enables astronomers to isolate light from faint planets and/or circumstellar disks that would otherwise be lost amidst the light of their host stars. Although…

Direct imaging of exoplanets or circumstellar disk material requires extreme contrast at the 10-6 to 10-12 levels at < 100 mas angular separation from the star. Focal-plane mask (FPM) coronagraphic imaging has played a key role in this…

High-contrast imaging observations of large angular diameter stars enable complementary science questions to be addressed compared to the baseline goals of proposed missions like the Terrestrial Planet Finder-Coronagraph, New World's…

Pupil-mapping is a technique whereby a uniformly-illuminated input pupil, such as from starlight, can be mapped into a non-uniformly illuminated exit pupil, such that the image formed from this pupil will have suppressed sidelobes, many…

We present a new high-contrast imaging testbed designed to provide complete solutions in wavefront sensing, control and starlight suppression with complex aperture telescopes. The testbed was designed to enable a wide range of studies of…

We present the fabrication and experimental demonstration of three free-standing binary shaped pupil mask coronagraphs, which are applicable for telescopes with partially obscured pupils. Three masks, designed to be complementary (labeled…

Extra-solar planets direct imaging is now a reality with the deployment and commissioning of the first generation of specialized ground-based instruments (GPI, SPHERE, P1640 and SCExAO). These systems allow of planets $ 10 ^ 7 $ times…

Directly imaging Earth-sized exoplanets with a visible-light coronagraph instrument on a space telescope will require a system that can achieve $\sim10^{-10}$ raw contrast and maintain it for the duration of observations (on the order of…