Jovian Planet Finder optical system

John E. Krist; Mark Clampin; Larry Petro; Robert A. Woodruff; Holland C. Ford; Garth D. Illingworth; Christ Ftaclas

doi:10.1117/12.457838

Translator Disclaimer

3 March 2003 Jovian Planet Finder optical system

John E. Krist, Mark Clampin, Larry Petro, Robert A. Woodruff, Holland C. Ford, Garth D. Illingworth, Christ Ftaclas

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4860, High-Contrast Imaging for Exo-Planet Detection; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.457838
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

The Jovian Planet Finder (JPF) is a proposed NASA MIDEX mission to place a highly optimized coronagraphic telescope on the International Space Station (ISS) to image Jupiter-like planets around nearby stars. The optical system is an off-axis, unobscured telescope with a 1.5 m primary mirror. A classical Lyot coronagraph with apodized occulting spots is used to reduce diffracted light from the central star. In order to provide the necessary contrast for detection of a planet, scattered light from mid-spatial-frequency errors is reduced by using super-smooth optics. Recent advances in polishing optics for extreme-ultraviolet lithography have shown that a factor of >30 reduction in midfrequency errors relative to those in the Hubble Space Telescope is possible (corresponding to a reduction in scattered light of nearly 1000x). The low level of scattered and diffracted light, together with a novel utilization of field rotation introduced by the alt-azimuth ISS telescope mounting, will provide a relatively low-cost facility for not only imaging extrasolar planets, but also circumstellar disks, host galaxies of quasars, and low-mass substellar companions such as brown dwarfs.

Citation Download Citation

John E. Krist, Mark Clampin, Larry Petro, Robert A. Woodruff, Holland C. Ford, Garth D. Illingworth, and Christ Ftaclas "Jovian Planet Finder optical system", Proc. SPIE 4860, High-Contrast Imaging for Exo-Planet Detection, (3 March 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.457838

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE