A Single-Mode Nulling Rotating Coronagraph for High Contrast Ground Based Imaging

Details A Single-Mode Nulling Rotating Coronagraph for High Contrast Ground Based Imaging A Single-Mode Nulling Rotating Coronagraph for High Contrast Ground Based Imaging

Jun 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007lyot.confe..26m&link_type=abstract

Proceedings of the conference In the Spirit of Bernard Lyot: The Direct Detection of Planets and Circumstellar Disks in the 21s

Physics

Optics

Scientific paper

I describe a new observational method to conduct very high contrast near infrared observations of the close environment (i.e. within 15 to 200 mas) of nearby astronomical targets using a single-telescope. This approach, best described as a single-mode nulling coronagraph (a.k.a. "fiber nuller"), uses destructive interference between two or more sub-apertures of a single telescope, in conjunction with fast aperture rotation (~0.1Hz) and wavefront filtering through single-mode fibers. In the case of a large ground based telescope located at a prime astronomical site and equipped with extreme adaptive optics, contrast ratios greater than 10^4 should be accessible within 15 mas of the central star, showing that the instrument clearly occupies a unique region between regular coronagraphs, limited in spatial resolution (no high contrast within 100 mas), and long baseline interferometers, traditionally limited in dynamic range (<100:1). The astrophysical applications of such a device are numerous, ranging from the study of stellar atmospheres and circumstellar disks, to the direct detection of brown dwarfs or self luminous planets within a few AUs of young nearby stars. A simple laboratory experiment quickly provided 10^6 rejection using visible laser light, and over 10^4 broad-band dual polarization stable rejection in the H band (~1.65 microns). An initial near infrared set-up will be mounted and tested in 2007 on the Palomar Hale 5m telescope using two ~1.5m sub-apertures.

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