A direct comparison of exoEarth yields for starshades and coronagraphs

Christopher C. Stark; Eric J. Cady; Mark Clampin; Shawn Domagal-Goldman; Doug Lisman; Avi M. Mandell; Michael W. McElwain; Aki Roberge; Tyler D. Robinson; Dmitry Savransky; Stuart B. Shaklan; Karl R. Stapelfeldt

doi:10.1117/12.2233201

29 July 2016 A direct comparison of exoEarth yields for starshades and coronagraphs

Christopher C. Stark, Eric J. Cady, Mark Clampin, Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Doug Lisman, Avi M. Mandell, Michael W. McElwain, Aki Roberge, Tyler D. Robinson, Dmitry Savransky, Stuart B. Shaklan, Karl R. Stapelfeldt

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave; 99041U (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233201
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

The scale and design of a future mission capable of directly imaging extrasolar planets will be influenced by the detectable number (yield) of potentially Earth-like planets. Currently, coronagraphs and starshades are being considered as instruments for such a mission. We will use a novel code to estimate and compare the yields for starshade- and coronagraph-based missions. We will show yield scaling relationships for each instrument and discuss the impact of astrophysical and instrumental noise on yields. Although the absolute yields are dependent on several yet-unknown parameters, we will present several limiting cases allowing us to bound the yield comparison.

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Christopher C. Stark, Eric J. Cady, Mark Clampin, Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Doug Lisman, Avi M. Mandell, Michael W. McElwain, Aki Roberge, Tyler D. Robinson, Dmitry Savransky, Stuart B. Shaklan, and Karl R. Stapelfeldt "A direct comparison of exoEarth yields for starshades and coronagraphs", Proc. SPIE 9904, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 99041U (29 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233201

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