TY - GEN
T1 - Occulter design for THEIA
AU - Kasdin, N. Jeremy
AU - Cady, Eric J.
AU - Dumont, Philip J.
AU - Lisman, P. Douglas
AU - Shaklan, Stuart B.
AU - Soummer, Remi
AU - Spergel, David N.
AU - Vanderbei, Robert J.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - An occulter is an instrument designed to suppress starlight by diffraction from its edges; most are designed to be circular, with a set of identical "petals" running around the outside. Proposed space-based occulters are lightweight, deployed screens tens of meters in diameter with challenging accuracy requirements. In this paper we describe the design of an occulter for the THEIA mission concept. THEIA consists of a 4-meter telescope diffraction limited to 300 nm, and a 40-meter external occulter to provide high-contrast imaging. Operating from 250 to 1000 nm, it will provide a rich family of science projects, including exoplanet characterization, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and very wide-field imaging. Originally conceived of as a hybrid system employing both an occulter and internal coronagraph, THEIA now uses a single occulter to achieve all of the starlight suppression but at two different distances from the telescope in order to minimize size and distance. We describe the basic design principles of the THEIA occulter, its final configuration, performance, and sensitivity.
AB - An occulter is an instrument designed to suppress starlight by diffraction from its edges; most are designed to be circular, with a set of identical "petals" running around the outside. Proposed space-based occulters are lightweight, deployed screens tens of meters in diameter with challenging accuracy requirements. In this paper we describe the design of an occulter for the THEIA mission concept. THEIA consists of a 4-meter telescope diffraction limited to 300 nm, and a 40-meter external occulter to provide high-contrast imaging. Operating from 250 to 1000 nm, it will provide a rich family of science projects, including exoplanet characterization, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and very wide-field imaging. Originally conceived of as a hybrid system employing both an occulter and internal coronagraph, THEIA now uses a single occulter to achieve all of the starlight suppression but at two different distances from the telescope in order to minimize size and distance. We describe the basic design principles of the THEIA occulter, its final configuration, performance, and sensitivity.
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U2 - 10.1117/12.826518
DO - 10.1117/12.826518
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77958126721
SN - 9780819477309
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets IV
T2 - Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets IV
Y2 - 4 August 2009 through 5 August 2009
ER -