Hunting planets and observing disks with the JWST NIRCam coronagraph

John E. Krist; Charles A. Beichman; John T. Trauger; Marcia J. Rieke; Steve Somerstein; Joseph J. Green; Scott D. Horner; John A. Stansberry; Fang Shi; Michael R. Meyer; Karl R. Stapelfeldt; Thomas L. Roellig

doi:10.1117/12.734873

19 September 2007 Hunting planets and observing disks with the JWST NIRCam coronagraph

John E. Krist, Charles A. Beichman, John T. Trauger, Marcia J. Rieke, Steve Somerstein, Joseph J. Green, Scott D. Horner, John A. Stansberry, Fang Shi, Michael R. Meyer, Karl R. Stapelfeldt, Thomas L. Roellig

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6693, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets III; 66930H (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.734873
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2007, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The expected stable point spread function, wide field of view, and sensitivity of the NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will allow a simple, classical Lyot coronagraph to detect warm Jovian-mass companions orbiting young stars within 150 pc as well as cool Jupiters around the nearest low-mass stars. The coronagraph can also be used to study protostellar and debris disks. At λ = 4.5 μm, where young planets are particularly bright relative to their stars, and at separations beyond ~0.5 arcseconds, the low space background gives JWST significant advantages over ground-based telescopes equipped with adaptive optics. We discuss the scientific capabilities of the NIRCam coronagraph, describe the technical features of the instrument, and present end-to-end simulations of coronagraphic observations of planets and circumstellar disks.

Citation Download Citation

John E. Krist, Charles A. Beichman, John T. Trauger, Marcia J. Rieke, Steve Somerstein, Joseph J. Green, Scott D. Horner, John A. Stansberry, Fang Shi, Michael R. Meyer, Karl R. Stapelfeldt, and Thomas L. Roellig "Hunting planets and observing disks with the JWST NIRCam coronagraph", Proc. SPIE 6693, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets III, 66930H (19 September 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.734873

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