[NASA]. Now on a three-month, million-mile journey to its final orbit, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will soon reveal the universe’s darkest secrets. The mission launched at 7:26 a.m. […]
telescope
![Three-dimensional layout of the four-aperture SELF optical model implemented in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio (Ansys, Inc. 2024), showing the arrangement of the primary and secondary mirrors, together with the optical path used for focalplane image generation. The inset provides a magnified view of the secondary mirrors. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Deep-Learning.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Deep Learning-Based Coarse Alignment and Cophasing of a Distributed-Aperture Telescope. Application to the Small ExoLife Finder (SELF)
[astro-ph.IM] The ExoLife Finder (ELF), a 35–50-meter-class Fizeau interferometric telescope, was designed to detect biosignatures on exoplanets through direct imaging. The Small ExoLife Finder (SELF), a 3.5-meter prototype, serves as […]
![Early draft of a possible layout for the MPIA to test the Bertin-Alpao 13k DM. Key components are numbered and described in the text. This version makes use of polarization components to simplify the number of optical elements. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Development.png?resize=1200%2C712&ssl=1)
Posted inUncategorized
Development Of An Adaptive Optics Testbed At MPIA For The ELT/Planetary Camera And Spectrograph (PCS)
[astro-ph.IM] The Planetary Camera and Spectrograph (PCS) is a proposed second-generation instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), dedicated to the direct imaging and characterization of exoplanets.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Roman Space Telescope: Enabling Images Of Distant Worlds
[Max Planck Institute for Astronomy] The Roman Space Telescope is designed to directly image exoplanets using complex opto-mechanical systems developed by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
Posted inPress Release
Habitable Worlds Observatory’s Concept and Technology Maturation: Initial Feasibility and Trade Space Exploration
[astro-ph.IM] The Habitable Worlds Observatory is the first telescope ever designed to search for life and will be a powerhouse of discovery across topics in astrophysics.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
NASA ROSES-25 Amendment 69: New Opportunity: D.9 Habitable Worlds Observatory Instrument Concept Assessments
[NASA] Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) Instrument Concept Assessments (HWO-ICA) program element D.9 of ROSES-25, solicits proposals to support maturation of the HWO mission concept. The objective of HWO-ICA is to […]
![Mapping of the science cases proposed by the Science Working Groups (center) to the questions and discovery areas identified by Astro2020 (left and right). The transparencies of the lines indicate the number of connections with darker lines indicating stronger links between the SWG and the Astro2020 topic. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Early-Exploration.png?resize=1200%2C711&ssl=1)
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Early Exploration Of The Scientific Discovery Space For The Habitable Worlds Observatory
[astro-ph.IM] The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is a future NASA flagship mission concept identified by the Astro2020 Decadal Survey as the highest priority for large space missions. HWO should conduct […]
![Representative spectral energy distribution fits for four HWO ExEP target stars: HD 2151 (upper left), HD 3651 A (upper right), HD 4813 (lower left), and HD 10700 (lower right). In each panel, the solid curve represents the best-fitting Pickles (1998) template spectrum, and the filled circles show the broadband photometry with associated uncertainties. Photometric error bars are shown in the y-direction, and filter widths in the x-direction. Fractional residuals between the template flux averaged over each bandpass and the literature photometry are shown in the lower sub-panels. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Spectral-Energy.png?resize=1200%2C716&ssl=1)
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Spectral Energy Distribution Analysis For Habitable Worlds Observatory Target Stars
[astro-ph.EP] The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will directly image and characterize planets potentially similar to Earth orbiting nearby stars.
![(a) The HWK4123 sensor has a standard ceramic land grid array (CGLA) package and measures 31.1 × 36.6 mm. The imaging pixel array is in the center of the sensor. (b) The PHOTRON system is shown outside the dewar. The HWK4123 mounts behind the black enclosure in the top-left corner. (c) The QUEST camera attaches to the output of an integrating sphere, and the sphere receives light from a monochromator. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Single-Photon.png?resize=1200%2C704&ssl=1)
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Single-Photon Counting CMOS Detectors For The Habitable Worlds Observatory
[astro-ph.IM] The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is NASA’s current New Great Observatory concept. HWO will observe the universe to search for life beyond Earth. It will need unprecedented instrument stability […]
![Top: Hexagonal segmented primary mirror designs with no central obscuration with different number of rings and varying segment sizes (flat-to-flat (m) 1-Hex: 2.64, 2-Hex: 1.45, 3-Hex: 1.19, 4-Hex: 0.85, 5-Hex: 0.66), all designs have an inscribed diameter of ∼6 m. Middle: Binary apodizer masks optimized for their respective aperture design. Bottom: Respective coronagraphic PSFs with an annular dark hole ranging from 3.4λ/D - 12λ/D, and a spatial average contrast floor of ∼4 × 10−11 inside the dark hole. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Segmentlevel.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Segment-level Thermal Sensitivity Analysis For Exo-Earth Coronagraphy With Segmented Space Telescopes
[astro-ph.IM] Direct imaging and characterization of Earth-like planets require ultra-stable wavefronts to achieve a starlight suppression level of 100 parts per trillion (ppt) in the coronagraphic dark region of the […]