SPEED: the Segmented Pupil Experiment for Exoplanet Detection

Searching for nearby exoplanets with direct imaging is one of the major scientific drivers for both space and ground-based programs. While the second generation of dedicated high-contrast instruments on 8-m class telescopes is about to greatly expand the sample of directly imaged planets, exploring...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2014-07
Main Authors: Martinez, Patrice, Preis Olivier, Gouvret Carole, Dejongue Julien, Daban Jean-Baptiste, Spang, Alain, Frantz, Martinache, Beaulieu Mathilde, Janin-Potiron Pierre, Lyu, Abe, Yan, Fantei-Caujolle, Mattei, Damien, Ottogali Sebastien
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Angular speed
Apertures
Astronomical instruments
Control equipment
Deformable mirrors
Deformation
Domains
Extrasolar planets
Formability
Imaging
Missions
Planet detection
Spatial resolution
Telescopes
Terrestrial planets
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Searching for nearby exoplanets with direct imaging is one of the major scientific drivers for both space and ground-based programs. While the second generation of dedicated high-contrast instruments on 8-m class telescopes is about to greatly expand the sample of directly imaged planets, exploring the planetary parameter space to hitherto-unseen regions ideally down to Terrestrial planets is a major technological challenge for the forthcoming decades. This requires increasing spatial resolution and significantly improving high contrast imaging capabilities at close angular separations. Segmented telescopes offer a practical path toward dramatically enlarging telescope diameter from the ground (ELTs), or achieving optimal diameter in space. However, translating current technological advances in the domain of high-contrast imaging for monolithic apertures to the case of segmented apertures is far from trivial. SPEED (the segmented pupil experiment for exoplanet detection) is a new instrumental facility in development at the Lagrange laboratory for enabling strategies and technologies for high-contrast instrumentation with segmented telescopes. SPEED combines wavefront control including precision segment phasing architectures, wavefront shaping using two sequential high order deformable mirrors for both phase and amplitude control, and advanced coronagraphy struggled to very close angular separations (PIAACMC). SPEED represents significant investments and technology developments towards the ELT area and future spatial missions, and will offer an ideal cocoon to pave the road of technological progress in both phasing and high-contrast domains with complex/irregular apertures. In this paper, we describe the overall design and philosophy of the SPEED bench.
ISSN:2331-8422