The WFIRST coronagraph instrument: a major step in the exploration of sun-like planetary systems via direct imaging
Name
106982I.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.72 MB
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Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Mennesson, Bertrand
Debesb, J.
Douglas, Ewan
Nemati, B.
Stark, C.
Kasdin, J.
Macintosh, B.
Turnbull, M.
Rizzo, M.
Roberge, A.
Date Issued
August 2018
Publisher
SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng
Citation
2018. "The WFIRST coronagraph instrument: a major step in the exploration of sun-like planetary systems via direct imaging."
Version
Final published version
Abstract
© COPYRIGHT SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only. The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) will be the first high-performance stellar coronagraph using active wavefront control for deep starlight suppression in space, providing unprecedented levels of contrast and spatial resolution for astronomical observations in the optical. One science case enabled by the CGI will be taking visible images and (R∼50) spectra of faint interplanetary dust structures present in the habitable zone of nearby sunlike stars (∼10 pc) and within the snow-line of more distant ones (∼20 pc), down to dust brightness levels commensurate with that of the solar system zodiacal cloud. Reaching contrast levels below 10-7 at sub-arcsecond angular scales for the first time, CGI will cross an important threshold in debris disks physics, accessing disks with low enough optical depths that their structure is dominated by transport mechanisms rather than collisions. Hence, CGI will help us understand how exozodiacal dust grains are produced and transported in low-density disks around mature stars. Additionally, CGI will be able to measure the brightness level and constrain the degree of asymmetry of exozodiacal clouds around individual nearby sunlike stars in the optical, at the ∼3x solar zodiacal emission level. This information will be extremely valuable for optimizing the observational strategy of possible future exo-Earth direct imaging missions, especially those planning to operate at optical wavelengths as well, such as the Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) and the Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR).
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Space Telecommunications Astronomy and Radiation (STAR) Lab
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313861
