Imaging & Spectroscopy

Challenges And Limitations Of Future Exoplanet Space Imagers

By Keith Cowing

Status Report

astro-ph.IM

December 13, 2023

Filed under astro-ph.IM, Astro2020 Decadal Survey, astronomy, exoplanet, Habitable Worlds Observatory, imaging, telescope

Challenges And Limitations Of Future Exoplanet Space Imagers — Examples of aberration mitigation with adaptive components: 1) use of two deformable mirrors to recover the dark hole despite segment phasing errors with the ACAD-OSM methodology (simulation from Mazoyer et al. (2018a)), 2) use of a DMD to recover the dark hole despite missing segments (experimental image from Carlotti et al. (2023)). — astro-ph.IM

The James Webb Space Telescope was not even launched yet when the Astro2020 Decadal Survey American report recommended the development of what is now called the Habitable World Observatory, also mentioned by the Voyage 2050 European report.

This future space telescope, at 11 billions dollars and at least 6 m diameter, should allow, around 2040, the characterization of at least 25 exoplanets similar to Earth and orbiting around main sequence stars, with the hope of discovering one where life could have developed.

This objective represents a technological challenge since it requires the design of spectro-imagers able to access very high contrasts (10^-8-10^-10) at low angular separations (smaller than 100 mas). This proceeding and the talk it is associated to address various obstacles that remain to be overcome in order to one day allow HabWorld to reach its ultimate performance.

Lucie Leboulleux

Comments: 6 pages, 5 figures, SF2A-2023 conference
Subjects: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Report number: 2023sf2a.conf…19L
Cite as: arXiv:2311.14000 [astro-ph.IM] (or arXiv:2311.14000v1 [astro-ph.IM] for this version)
Journal reference: SF2A-2023: Proceedings of the Annual meeting of the French Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Eds.: M. N’Diaye, A. Siebert, N. Lagarde, O. Venot, K. Bailli’e, M. B’ethermin, E. Lagadec, J. Malzac, J. Richard., pp.19-24
Submission history
From: Lucie Leboulleux
[v1] Thu, 23 Nov 2023 13:34:10 UTC (1,121 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.14000
Astrobiology

Keith Cowing

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻

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