coronagraph Archives

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Roman Coronagraph Instrument Call for White Papers

by Keith CowingJune 16, 2025June 13, 2025

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (hereafter, Roman) is NASA’s next astrophysics flagship mission. When fully operational in 2027, Roman will provide the astronomical community with an unparalleled opportunity to […]

First direct image of 14 Her c. JWST/NIRCam coronagraphic imaging of the 14 Her system with the MASKA335R coronagraph (transmission indicated by gray shaded circles). North is up, east is left. Left: Prediction for the location of 14 Her c from a reproduction of the orbits presented in (G. F. Benedict et al. 2023), at the epoch of observation (MJD=60449), and the location of the point source detected in the F444W filter. Middle: A starlight-subtracted image taken with the F200W filter (1.755−2.227 µm), showing extended emission from a background galaxy at about 1. ′′5 to the SE from the host star. No other statistically significant point sources are apparent, as intended, given the cold temperature of the planet 14 Her c. Right: A starlight-subtracted image taken with the F444W filter (3.881−4.982 µm), showing extended emission from the same background galaxy, and a point source at 1. ′′1 to the SW with a contrast of 1 × 10−6 . The location of the point source, detected with a contrast of 9.6 × 10−7 , agrees within 1σ with the predicted location for the planet, so we conclude we have detected 14 Her c. -- (astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Status Report

JWST Coronagraphic Images of 14 Her c: a Cold Giant Planet in a Dynamically Hot, Multi-planet System

by Keith CowingJune 14, 2025June 12, 2025

Most observed multi-planet systems are coplanar, in a dynamically “cold” configuration of concentric orbits like our own Solar System.

This image of exoplanet 14 Herculis c was taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera). A star symbol marks the location of the host star 14 Herculis, whose light has been blocked by a coronagraph on NIRCam (shown here as a dark circle outlined in white). NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, W. Balmer (JHU), D. Bardalez Gagliuffi (Amherst College)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Press Release

Frigid Exoplanet 14 Herculis c Is In A Strange Orbit

by Keith CowingJune 12, 2025June 12, 2025

A planetary system described as abnormal, chaotic, and strange by researchers has come into clearer view with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Using Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), researchers have successfully […]

F1550C image of α Cen AB. α Cen B is saturated near the top and α Cen A is behind the F1550C mask near the center. Two known background stars are labeled (KS2 inset, detected after PSF subtraction; and KS5). The (right) colorbar (for the Stage 2b image) is logarithmically scaled in MJy/sr. A ≈ 35 radius region around α Cen A is expanded. (a) The original α Cen AB PSF-subtracted image. Dashed lines indicate the FQPM boundaries. A likely artifact is boxed. (b) An identical reduction after injecting STPSF planet models (circled). (c) An identical reduction after injecting an exozodiacal disk model (boxed). The (bottom) colorbar (for the reduced images and KS2) is linearly scaled in MJy/sr. -- Research Notes of the AAS

Alpha Centauri, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

A Preliminary Search For Planets and Exozodiacal Emission Around Alpha Centauri A with JWST/MIRI

by Keith CowingMay 26, 2025May 26, 2025

We present F1550C (15.5 μm) coronagraphic imaging observations of the nearest solar-type star α Cen A using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI).

(a) A core 1×1024 array of SiC photodiodes, which fans out to wirebond pads matched to the inputs of wire bondable ROICs. In this case, the array is interfaced with 4 CTIA ROICs, each with 256 inputs. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

Novel SiC UV Instrumentation Development with Potential Applications for the Habitable Worlds Observatory

by Keith CowingJanuary 2, 2025January 2, 2025

In this paper, we detail recent and current work that is being carried out to fabricate and advance novel SiC UV instrumentation that is aimed at enabling more sensitive measurements […]

Example of ICA-based background subtraction results for “R05 v2 rez2 snr3 1em10” scenario from the Quartus Engineering analysis. A 2 × 3 set of subplots is shown where rows 1 and 2 correspond to passbands [425- 522] and [615-800] respectively. Columns 1, 2, and 3 of the plot correspond to the original image, the estimated background, and the residual, respectively. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Citizen Science / Open Science, Education and Outreach, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Starshade Exoplanet Data Challenge: What We Learned

by Keith CowingOctober 15, 2024October 15, 2024

Starshade is one of the technologies that will enable the observation and characterization of small planets around nearby stars through direct imaging.

XAO+PIAAN simulation scheme. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Proxima Centauri, Status Report

RISTRETTO: A VLT XAO Design To Reach Proxima Cen b In The Visible

by Keith CowingSeptember 13, 2024September 13, 2024

RISTRETTO is the evolution of the original idea of coupling the VLT instruments SPHERE and ESPRESSO lovis_2016a, aiming at High Dispersion Coronagraphy. RISTRETTO is a visitor instrument that should enable […]

Proposed observing strategy and post-processing strategy for Roman Coronagraph operations. After the dark hole is created, high-order mode dithers are applied on the DM during the reference star observations and the corresponding science camera (EXCAM) images and low order wavefront sensor measurements are saved. After the science target observations, the science camera images are compared to the high-order mode dithered reference star image library using PCA-type algorithms to produce a custom speckle pattern that matches the science observations. This approach is a generalization of the tip-tilt and low-order mode dithers tested on JWST13 and Subaru11, 12 to high-order modes within a dark hole. In complement, the low-order wavefront sensor telemetry can be used to further inform the speckle pattern model by down-selecting or excluding specific images from the dither library depending on how they match with the science target telemetry. Simulated images and modes from 26, 53. astro-ph.EP

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

ESCAPE Project: Investigating Active Observing Strategies and Post-processing Methods for Exoplanet High-contrast Imaging with Future Space Missions

by Keith CowingSeptember 10, 2024September 10, 2024

The search for biosignatures in potentially habitable exoplanets is one of the major astrophysics’ drivers for the coming decades, and the prime science goal of the HWO NASA mission, a […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Unveiling Habitable Planets: Toy Coronagraph Tackles The Exozodiacal Dust Challenge

by Keith CowingSeptember 10, 2024September 10, 2024

Directly imaging Earth-like exoplanets within habitable zones is challenging because faint signals can be obscured by exozodiacal dust, analogous to our solar system’s zodiacal dust. This dust scatters starlight, creating […]

Coronagraphic images of HD 95086 in each filter (F1065, F1140, and F2300) are shown in the top panel, followed by the same images after the subtraction of an optimized-reference star in the lower panel. The coronagraphic center is illustrated with the small star in blue. The inner disk, the planet, the background galaxies g and g2, and the background star s are labeled. For clarity, the color scale is enhanced for the bottom pannel at F1065C and F1140C, using an asinh scale. Units are in DN/s. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Unveiling the HD 95086 System at Mid-infrared Wavelengths with JWST/MIRI

by Keith CowingSeptember 4, 2024September 4, 2024

Mid-infrared imaging of exoplanets and disks is now possible with the coronagraphs of the MIRI on the JWST. This wavelength range unveils new features of young directly imaged systems and […]

coronagraph

Roman Coronagraph Instrument Call for White Papers

JWST Coronagraphic Images of 14 Her c: a Cold Giant Planet in a Dynamically Hot, Multi-planet System

Frigid Exoplanet 14 Herculis c Is In A Strange Orbit

A Preliminary Search For Planets and Exozodiacal Emission Around Alpha Centauri A with JWST/MIRI

Novel SiC UV Instrumentation Development with Potential Applications for the Habitable Worlds Observatory

Starshade Exoplanet Data Challenge: What We Learned

RISTRETTO: A VLT XAO Design To Reach Proxima Cen b In The Visible

ESCAPE Project: Investigating Active Observing Strategies and Post-processing Methods for Exoplanet High-contrast Imaging with Future Space Missions

Unveiling Habitable Planets: Toy Coronagraph Tackles The Exozodiacal Dust Challenge

Unveiling the HD 95086 System at Mid-infrared Wavelengths with JWST/MIRI

Alta-X Drone Tests Future Astrobiology / Astrogeology Droid Technology

Landforms In Ares Vallis Carved Out By Ancient Water Flow

Evolution of Stellar Activity and Habitable Zone (EATEN): III. X-ray Activity of Dwarfs in Open Clusters and Field Stars

Radial Velocity Detection Of The TRAPPIST-1 Planetary System With SPIRou And NIRPS

Structure Of An RNA polymerase Ribozyme Replication Complex