Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2001-01-09
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
13 pages, 8 figures
Scientific paper
The challenge for optical detection of terrestial planet is the 25 magnitude brightness contrast between the planet and its host star. This paper introduces a new pupil design that produces a very dark null along its symmetry axis. By changing the shape of the pupil, we can control the depth and location of this null. This null can be further enhanced by combining this pupil with a rooftop nuller or cateye nuller and an aperture stop. The performance of the optical system will be limited by imperfections in the mirror surface. If the star is imaged with and without the nuller, then we can characterize these imperfections and then correct them with a deformable mirror. The full optical system when deployed on a 6 $\times$ 10 m space telescope is capable of detecting Earthlike planets around stars within 20 parsecs. For an Earthlike planet around a nearby stars (10 parsecs), the telescope can characterize its atmosphere by measuring spectral lines in the 0.3 - 1.3 micron range.
No associations
LandOfFree
A New Pupil for Detecting Extrasolar Planets does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with A New Pupil for Detecting Extrasolar Planets, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A New Pupil for Detecting Extrasolar Planets will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-65553