Coronagraphy on starlike objects with the Space Telescope: Experimental simulation and expected performance

The high angular resolution of the Space Telescope provides a strong motive for the use of a coronagraph in order to observe the nearest faint structures surrounding a bright starlike object (stars with planets or shells, nuclei of galaxies, underlying galaxies). An experimental simulation with diffraction limited optics and a Lyot system is described. Results show the possibility of detection of 2 x 10 to the minus 7th power relative intensity features at 1 arc second of the bright source.