Eighth-Order Image Masks for Terrestrial Planet Finding
Abstract
We describe a new series of band-limited image masks for coronagraphy that are insensitive to tip-tilt errors and other low spatial frequency optical aberrations. For a modest cost in throughput, these ``eighth-order'' masks would allow the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C) to operate with a pointing accuracy no better than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. We also provide eighth-order notch filter masks that offer the same robustness to pointing errors combined with more manageable construction tolerances: binary masks and sampled graded masks with moderate optical density requirements.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- July 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1086/430200
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0411077
- Bibcode:
- 2005ApJ...628..466K
- Keywords:
-
- Astrobiology;
- Stars: Circumstellar Matter;
- Instrumentation: Adaptive Optics;
- Stars: Planetary Systems;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 21 pages, including 6 figures. Accepted to ApJ