Measurements of high-contrast starshade performance

Glassman, Tiffany; Casement, Suzanne; Warwick, Steve; Novicki, Megan C.

doi:10.1117/12.2054680

Cited by 8 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…This revelation, with subsequent explanation, 2 opened the door to experiments at larger separations to test at flight-like Fresnel numbers. Starshades have been tested over kilometers of separation on dry lakebeds [34][35][36] and with a heliostat on Kitt Peak. 37,38 Similarly, the optical experiments of Harness et al were conducted in air.…”

Section: Day 1: Starshade Basicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Special Section on Starshades: Overview and a Dialogue

Arenberg

Harness

Jensen-Clem

2021

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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This special section is dedicated to starshades: science, engineering, technology, and programmatics. Our reasons for organizing this special section are several fold. First as a new technology and with research accomplished in many institutions, recent results are widely scattered in the literature. As such, we see great value in colocating many of the most recent results. This guest editorial summarizes the 19 contributed papers as the result of a special call for papers. Since this is a rapidly maturing technology, we wanted to colocate a primer with the most current work in the field. It is hoped that this primer will provide a tutorial to the starshade concept and pathway to the literature not in this section. In doing so, we hope to widen the starshade community in terms of engineering and scientific engagements. This tutorial takes the form of a dialogue, where frequently asked questions are answered.

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Section: Day 1: Starshade Basicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Special Section on Starshades: Overview and a Dialogue

Arenberg

Harness

Jensen-Clem

2021

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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“…Therefore, as long as the Fresnel number is conserved, sub-scale demonstrations on the ground can be done to prepare for a future space mission. Previous tests of starshades have been done indoors [11,16,2,18,10] and on extremely flat dry lake beds [5], but at Fresnel numbers that were significantly larger than the flight-like Fresnel number (∼ 14) and at large inner working angles. Current lab tests are pushing towards flight-like Fresnel numbers, but the smaller separations require the use of very small starshades where microscopic features become difficult to manufacture [9].…”

Section: Experiments Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High contrast observations of bright stars with a starshade

2017

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Starshades are a leading technology to enable the direct detection and spectroscopic characterization of Earth-like exoplanets. In an effort to advance starshade technology through system level demonstrations, the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope was adapted to enable the suppression of astronomical sources with a starshade. The long baselines achievable with the heliostat provide measurements of starshade performance at a flight-like Fresnel number and resolution, aspects critical to the validation of optical models. The heliostat has provided the opportunity to perform the first astronomical observations with a starshade and has made science accessible in a unique parameter space, high contrast at moderate inner working angles. On-sky images are valuable for developing the experience and tools needed to extract science results from future starshade observations. We report on high contrast observations of nearby stars provided by a starshade. We achieve 5.6 × 10 −7 contrast at 30 arcseconds inner working angle on the star Vega and provide new photometric constraints on background stars near Vega.

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“…Previous experiments in Refs. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] were conducted at Fresnel numbers much larger than that expected in flight; the experiment in Ref. 20 was done at a flight-like Fresnel number, but its contrast was limited by the atmosphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%