One of the primary scientific goals of the upcoming Habitable Worlds Observatory (HabWorlds) is to take spectra of reflected light from nearby Exo-Earths. High-contrast Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) instrumentation offers one promising avenue to obtain these observations. Aside from taking low-resolution spectra of directly imaged exoplanets, IFS cameras provide multi-wavelength images of residual starlight speckles and deformable mirror actuator probes. This year we restored the functionality of the Prototype Imaging Spectrograph for Coronagraphic Exoplanet Studies (PISCES) and integrated it with the ExoSpec coronagraph testbed at Goddard Space Flight Center. We will use the PISCES IFS to conduct in-air tests of broadband, high-order wavefront sensing and control techniques with a shaped pupil coronagraph.
The search for Exo-Earth biosignatures is the ultimate, and most challenging, scientific objective of the Habitable Worlds Observatory. The Exoplanet Spectroscopy Technologies Project (abbreviated ExoSpec) is dedicated to maturing three subsystem technologies that can enable the characterization of directly imaged exoplanets: integral field spectrographs (IFS), radiation-tolerant photon counting CCD detectors, and parabolic deformable mirrors (PDMs). While we advance these subsystem technologies through separate laboratory prototype demonstrations, we are also assessing their impact in terms of scientific yield at the system level through science-based end-to-end modeling and spectral retrieval simulations. This modeling pipeline provides a framework to guide engineering trades. This proceeding reports on the status of the ExoSpec effort, key technology demonstrations planned, the current testbed configuration, and technological progress to date.
For the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), it is essential to broaden the controllable wavelength bandwidth for high-contrast imaging and spectroscopy to increase the exoEarth yield and characterization. The Parabolic Deformable Mirrors (PDM) subpackage, under the NASA Headquarters-directed Exoplanet Spectroscopy (ExoSpec) Work Package, is specifically tailored to do so. We have successfully procured a first-generation (Gen 1) PDM device and completed in-depth characterization of the device. This robust evaluation has become instrumental in informing subsequent stages of development, particularly in shaping the design and specifying requirements for the next generation, Gen 2, PDM device. We have built a testbed in an environmentally controlled cleanroom to experimentally demonstrate the use of a PDM in a coronagraph instrument with an integral field spectrograph (IFS). This versatile testbed is designed to test different DM architectures, low-order wavefront sensing schemes, and a lenslet-based IFS. This provides us with a basis for comparison with different DM configurations: 1) flat DM, 2) PDMs, and 3) a flat DM and PDMs. In this communication, we will discuss the testbed design and updates, PDM characterization, and Gen 2 requirement definitions.
Stellar coronagraphs use closed-loop focal-plane wavefront sensing and control algorithms to create high-contrast dark zones suitable for imaging exoplanets and exozodiacal dust clouds around nearby stars. Model-based algorithms are susceptible to model mismatch, wherein a departure of the coronagraph's true optical characteristics from the assumed model causes reduced control loop performance. Here, we report on a collection of techniques, including prediction-error minimization, expectation-maximization, and maximum-likelihood estimation, for empirically tuning the wavefront control Jacobian matrix in a statistically rigorous fashion during closed-loop wavefront control operations. This mitigates model mismatch and recovers near-optimal control loop performance.
We report on experimental stabilization of low-order aberrations on a high-contrast testbed for exoplanet imaging, in up to 10% broadband light under natural and artificial drifts. The measurements are performed with a Zernike wavefront sensor using the light rejected by the focal plane mask of an apodized Lyot coronagraph. We conduct the experiments on the High-contrast imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes testbed, with a segmented aperture and two continuous deformable mirrors. We study several use cases, from the stabilization of a pre-established dark hole to the concurrent combination with focal-plane wavefront sensing in the form of sequential pairwise sensing over several wavelengths.
KEYWORDS: Prisms, Calibration, Polarizers, Polarization, Spectroscopes, Spectral resolution, Equipment, Target detection, Space telescopes, Signal to noise ratio
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) will demonstrate spectroscopy of planets and polarization measurements of disks. The spectroscopy and polarization modes utilize Amici and Wollaston prism designs. The spectroscopy mode, designed and built and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), has a resolution of R50 in 15% bands centered at 660nm and 730nm. The Wollaston design and optics are contributed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, with final alignment and testing at GSFC. We present the requirements, ground-to-orbit calibration, and deployable slit operations. We also detail on the design, results from the as-built flight assemblies.
The Exoplanet Spectroscopy (ExoSpec) project links four different tasks at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to facilitate efficient imaging and characterization of exoplanets. One of the tasks is the development of parabolic deformable mirrors to improve on the current state-of-the-art wavefront sensing and control implementations that are baselined to have two high-actuator count flat Deformable Mirrors (DMs). The current baseline has two DMs at a considerable separation distance to effectively control both amplitude and phase aberrations. This significant separation poses packaging challenges to the direct imaging missions. We can mitigate this issue by making the off-axis imaging elements in the optical train controllable. Besides addressing the packaging challenges, this technique reduces the risk of having the entire coronagraph instrument’s performance depend on two high-actuator count DMs. Simulations show that making imaging elements deformable increases the overall controllable bandwidth - it would be possible to control wavefront aberrations up to 35% bandwidth over a 5 - 12 λ|D. GSFC has worked with a commercial vendor to produce a first-generation parabolic DM and built a testbed in an environmentally controlled cleanroom to experimentally demonstrate the use of a parabolic DM in a coronagraph instrument. This versatile testbed is designed to test different DM architectures and various low-order wavefront schemes. This provides us with a basis for comparison with different DM configurations: 1) flat DM, 2) parabolic DMs, and 3) flat DM and parabolic DMs. In this paper, we will provide an update on our parabolic DM work.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument is a critical technology demonstrator for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory. With a predicted visible-light flux ratio detection limit of 10−8 or better, it will be capable of reaching new areas of parameter space for both gas giant exoplanets and circumstellar disks. It is in the final stages of integration and test at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with an anticipated delivery to payload integration in the coming year. This paper will review the instrument systems, observing modes, potential observing applications, and overall progress toward instrument integration and test.
In recent work, we numerically and experimentally demonstrated a new approach to high-contrast wavefront control based on the combination of nonlinear optimization with algorithmic differentiation, which we termed Algorithmic Differentiation Wavefront Control (ADWC). ADWC is more computationally efficient than Jacobian-based control algorithms for Deformable Mirror (DM) actuator counts and focal plane sizes relevant to the planned Habitable Worlds Observatory, which potentially opens a path toward on-orbit wavefront sensing and control. Here, we review these results with a view toward their potential impact on NASA’s planned Habitable Worlds Observatory and describe ongoing simulations and experiments, including extensions to adaptive control.
We present recent laboratory results demonstrating high-contrast coronagraphy for the future space-based large IR/Optical/Ultraviolet telescope recommended by the Decadal Survey. The High-contrast Imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HiCAT) testbed aims to implement a system-level hardware demonstration for segmented aperture coronagraphs with wavefront control. The telescope hardware simulator employs a segmented deformable mirror with 37 hexagonal segments that can be controlled in piston, tip, and tilt. In addition, two continuous deformable mirrors are used for high-order wavefront sensing and control. The low-order sensing subsystem includes a dedicated tip-tilt stage, a coronagraphic target acquisition camera, and a Zernike wavefront sensor that is used to measure and correct low-order aberration drifts. We explore the performance of a segmented aperture coronagraph both in “static” operations (limited by natural drifts and instabilities) and in “dynamic” operations (in the presence of artificial wavefront drifts added to the deformable mirrors), and discuss the estimation and control strategies used to reach and maintain the dark-zone contrast using our low-order wavefront sensing and control. We summarize experimental results that quantify the performance of the testbed in terms of contrast, inner/outer working angle and bandpass, and analyze limiting factors.
We present recent laboratory results demonstrating high-contrast coronagraphy for future space-based large segmented telescopes such as the Large UV, Optical, IR telescope (LUVOIR) mission concept studied by NASA. The High-contrast Imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HiCAT) testbed aims to implement a system-level hardware demonstration for segmented aperture coronagraphs with wavefront control. The telescope hardware simulator employs a segmented deformable mirror with 36 hexagonal segments that can be controlled in piston, tip, and tilt. In addition, two continuous deformable mirrors are used for high-order wavefront sensing and control. The low-order sensing subsystem includes a dedicated tip-tilt stage, a coronagraphic target acquisition camera, and a Zernike wavefront sensor that is used to measure low-order aberration drifts. We explore the performance of a segmented aperture coronagraph both in “static” operations (limited by natural drifts and instabilities) and in “dynamic” operations (in the presence of artificial wavefront drifts added to the deformable mirrors), and discuss the estimation and control strategies used to reach and maintain the dark zone contrast. We summarize experimental results that quantify the performance of the testbed in terms of contrast, inner/outer working angle and bandpass, and analyze limiting factors by comparing against our end-to-end models.
ExoSpec Project is a NASA Headquarters directed work package that links four different tasks at Goddard space flight center to enable future missions to more efficiently characterize directly imaged exoplanets. One of the tasks is the development of parabolic deformable mirrors to improve on the current state-of-the-art wavefront sensing and control implementations that are baselined to have two high actuator count flat deformable mirrors (DMs). To effectively control both amplitude and phase aberrations, the flat DMs need to have a large separation distance. This large separation poses packaging challenges to missions designed to image rocky exoplanets at larger angular separations. To eliminate this large separation, the parabolic DM architecture makes the off-axis imaging elements in the optical train are controllable. Simulations also show performance enhancements with the architecture change; larger bandwidths have been shown to be controllable with the parabolic DMs and the number of required actuators can be reduced. With a 32x32 pupil flat DM and two 16x16 parabolic DMs, we could dig a 5-12 λ/D dark hole at 35% bandwidth. In addition to addressing the packaging challenge faced by future coronagraph missions, reducing the number of actuators reduces both cost and risk of having the entire coronagraph instrument’s performance depend on two high-actuator count DMs. To test these simulations, Goddard is building a testbed and has a vendor working on manufacturing the parabolic DM. Here we present these simulations, the current testbed performance, and the development plan to incorporate and test the parabolic DMs.
As part of its technology demonstration, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) will demonstrate point source spectroscopy and polarization measurements of disks. The specific implementation of spectroscopy is a zero-deviation Amici prism and a slit to be placed on the planet after high contrast has been achieved by CGI. The polarization optics are a set of Wollaston prisms so that orthogonal polarization states can be measured simultaneously. The CGI spectral characterization mode, being designed and built and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), has a spectral resolution of R50 at its central wavelength and is designed to accommodate a 15% bandpass spanning 610785nm. In order to recover Stokes information, there are two sets of Wollaston prisms clocked 45 degrees with respect to one another with each measurement taken in series. The Wollaston design and optical elements are a contribution by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with final alignment and testing being done at GSFC. The spectroscopy mode is designed to target Methane absorption features around 730nm, keeping the spectral resolution as low as possible to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and hence reduce detection time. We highlight the requirements for these modes and address the challenge of on-orbit spectral calibration for a deployable slit in the presence of pointing drifts. Of unique interest is how the observatory error budget couples into good stellar spectrum calibration and subsequent speckle subtraction. We also provide further detail on the optomechanical design, its modeled performance, and operations concept. These performance metrics are simulated to demonstrate how a slit located at an arbitrary field point is homed onto the planet and converted to a calibrated spectrum.
The exoplanet atmosphere characterization goals of future UV/Optical/Infrared flagship space missions will drive challenging design requirements for instrument wavefront controls, spatial and spectral sampling, spectral bandwidth, and detector performance. The new ExoSpec Project links four previously distinct research efforts at Goddard and Ames for enabling and enhancing the characterization of directly-imaged exoplanets. ExoSpec is comprised of three laboratory subsystem demonstrations: high-contrast integral field spectrographs, p-channel CCDs, and parabolic deformable mirrors. A fourth component, exoplanet spectral retrieval, is an iterative data simulation activity driven by the goal of optimizing the system-level instrument design for atmosphere retrieval metrics. The ExoSpec Project's emphasis on system-level spectroscopy performance complements the objectives of other technology demonstrations supported by NASA.
Coronagraph-equipped direct imaging missions need an active wavefront control system to cancel out the optical aberrations that degrade the performance of the coronagraphs. A fast steering mirror is used to control Line-of- Sight (LoS) pointing error caused by the telescope jitter. In addition to controlling other low-order aberrations such as astigmatism and coma, high stroke, high actuator density deformable mirrors (DMs) are also used to control the electric field at the required high spatial frequencies. We are designing a testbed to verify a different deformable architecture, where the powered optic in the optical train are controllable and have lower actuator count compared to the existing DMs with nominal surfaces. This simplifies the packaging issue for space missions and reduces both cost and risk of having the entire coronagraph instrument's performance depending on one or two high-actuator count DMs. The testbed would also be capable of testing different low-order wavefront sensing algorithms, which focuses in the near-term on a new adaptive Kalman filtering and gradient decent method to estimate the harmonic LoS errors that affect space telescopes. In the long run, we would test different machine learning techniques to estimate low-order aberrations and non-linear algorithms for digging the region of high contrast called the dark holes (DH).
The Coronagraph is a key instrument on the Large UV-Optical-Infrared (LUVOIR) Surveyor mission concept. The Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (APLC) is one of the baselined mask technologies to enable 1E10 contrast observations in the habitable zones of nearby stars. The LUVOIR concept uses a large, segmented primary mirror (9--15 meters in diameter) to meet its scientific objectives. For such an observatory architecture, the coronagraph performance depends on active wavefront sensing and control and metrology subsystems to compensate for errors in segment alignment (piston and tip/tilt), secondary mirror alignment, and global low-order wavefront errors. Here we present the latest results of the simulation of these effects for different working angle regions and discuss the achieved contrast for exoplanet detection and characterization under these circumstances, including simulated observations using high-fidelity spatial and spectral models of planetary systems generated with Haystacks, setting boundaries for the tolerance of such errors.
Space telescopes equipped with a coronagraph to detect and characterize exoplanets must have the ability to sense and control low-order wavefront aberrations. The line-of-sight (LoS) pointing error due to telecope jitter causes image quality (contrast) degradation, so it must be estimated and compensated for. The LoS pointing error caused by the attitude control system (ACS) and the forces and residual unbalanced momentum from the reaction wheels (RWs) should be estimated and controlled to sub-milliarcsecond (mas) level. The largest errors are due to the RWs’ disturbance and are harmonic in nature. Current LoS estimation and control techniques use the frequency information from tachometer readings as inputs to estimate the LoS pointing error. Inaccuracies in the tachometer readings lead to erroneous estimations and less-effective control. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive technique where we use the low-order wavefront sensor (LOWFS) camera measurements to determine the system parameters and the LoS pointing error, hence removing the dependency of the LoS pointing error estimation on accuracy of the tachometer readings. We present the simulation results where we could estimate and control the LoS pointing error to 0.04 mas.
Coronagraphic exoplanet detection at very high contrast requires the estimation and control of low-order wave- front aberrations. At Princeton High Contrast Imaging Lab (PHCIL), we are working on a new technique that integrates a sparse-aperture mask (SAM) with a shaped pupil coronagraph (SPC) to make precise estimates of these low-order aberrations. We collect the starlight rejected from the coronagraphic image plane and interfere it using a sparse aperture mask (SAM) at the relay pupil to estimate the low-order aberrations. In our previous work we numerically demonstrated the efficacy of the technique, and proposed a method to sense and control these differential aberrations in broadband light. We also presented early testbed results in which the SAM was used to sense pointing errors. In this paper, we will briefly overview the SAM wavefront sensor technique, explain the design of the completed testbed, and report the experimental estimation results of the dominant low-order aberrations such as tip/tit, astigmatism and focus.
A high contrast is required for direct imaging of exoplanets. Ideally, the level of contrast required for direct imaging of exoplanets can be achieved by coronagraphic imaging, but in practice, the contrast is degraded by wavefront aberrations. To achieve the required contrast, low-order wavefront aberrations such as tip-tilt, defocus and coma must be determined and corrected. In this paper, we present a technique that integrates a sparse- aperture mask (SAM) with a shaped pupil coronagraph (SPC) to make precise estimates of these low-order aberrations. Starlight rejected by the coronagraph's focal plane stop is collimated to a relay pupil, where the mask forms an interference fringe pattern on a detector. Using numerical simulations, we show that the SAM can estimate rapidly varying tip-tilt errors in space telescopes arising from line-of-sight pointing oscillations as well as other higher-order modes. We also show that a Kalman filter can be used with the SAM to improve the estimation. At Princetons High Contrast Imaging Laboratory, we have recently created a testbed devoted to low-order wavefront sensing experiments. The testbed incorporates custom-fabricated masks (shaped pupil, focal plane, and sparse aperture) with a deformable mirror and a CCD camera to demonstrate the estimation and correction of low-order aberrations. Our first experiments aim to replicate the results of the SAM wavefront sensor (SAM WFS) Fourier propagation models.
Stellar coronagraph performance is highly sensitive to optical aberrations. In order to effectively suppress starlight for exoplanet imaging applications, low-order wavefront aberrations entering a coronagraph, such as tip-tilt, defocus, and coma, must be determined and compensated. Previous authors have established the utility of pupil-plane masks (both nonredundant/sparse-aperture and generally asymmetric aperture masks) for wavefront sensing (WFS). Here, we show how a sparse aperture mask (SAM) can be integrated with a coronagraph to measure low-order differential phase aberrations. Starlight rejected by the coronagraph’s focal plane stop is collimated to a relay pupil, where the mask forms an interference fringe pattern on a subsequent detector. Our numerical Fourier propagation models show that the information encoded in the fringe intensity distortions is sufficient to accurately discriminate and estimate Zernike phase modes extending from tip-tilt up to radial degree n=5, with amplitude up to λ/20 RMS. The SAM sensor can be integrated with both Lyot and shaped pupil coronagraphs at no detriment to the science beam quality. We characterize the reconstruction accuracy and the performance under low flux/short exposure time conditions, and place it in context of other coronagraph WFS schemes.
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