Contrast performance of an 8m off-axis, segmented space telescope equipped with an adaptive optics system

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2208.08553.pdf (721.21 KB)

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https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.08553

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https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2208.08553
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/25700

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UMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology (CSST) / Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences & Technology II (CRSST II)
UMBC Faculty Collection

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2022-08-17

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journal articles
preprints
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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Abstract

The Astro2020 decadal survey recommended an infrared, optical, ultra-violet (IR/O/UV) telescope with a ∼6 m inscribed diameter and equipped with a coronagraph instrument to directly image exoEarths in the habitable zone of their host star. A telescope of such size may need to be segmented to be folded and then carried by current launch vehicles. However, a segmented primary mirror introduces the potential for additional mid spatial frequency optical wavefront instabilities during the science operations that would degrade the coronagraph performance. A coronagraph instrument with a wavefront sensing and control (WS&C) system can stabilize the wavefront with a picometer precision at high temporal frequencies (>1Hz). In this work, we study a realistic set of aberrations based on a finite element model of a slightly larger (8m circumscribed, 6.7m inscribed diameter) segmented telescope with its payload. We model an adaptive optics (AO) system numerically to compute the post-AO residuals. The residuals then feed an end-to-end model of a vortex coronagraph instrument. We report the long exposure contrast and discuss the overall benefits of the adaptive optics system in the flagship mission success.