Integrated active control of coronagraph and telescope for high contrast imaging

Coronagraphic space telescopes for imaging Earth-like exoplanets, such as the projected Habitable Worlds Observatory, will require extraordinary optical stability, with wavefront drift performance measured in the picometers. This paper considers how active means, using sensing and control subsystems, can control the entire coronagraphic beam train, from the telescope’s segmented primary mirror, through the coronagraph’s deformable mirrors, to stabilize the electric field in the coronagraph. Integrated telescope and coronagraph models are used to show how this can work to preserve contrast at the 10-10 level and provide important observational efficiencies. In future work, the models will also be used to identify needed performance levels for the various control system components, to help inform NASA’s technology funding priorities.

用于类地系外行星成像的日冕太空望远镜（例如规划中的宜居世界天文台（Habitable Worlds Observatory）），需具备极高的光学稳定性，其波前漂移性能需以皮米为单位进行量化。本文探讨了如何借助传感与控制子系统构成的主动控制手段，对从望远镜分段主镜到日冕仪可变形反射镜的整条日冕光束传输链路进行控制，以稳定日冕仪内的电场。研究采用望远镜与日冕仪的集成模型，验证了该方案可将成像对比度维持在10⁻¹⁰量级，并能显著提升观测效率。在后续研究中，该模型还将用于确定各控制系统组件的必要性能指标，为美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的技术资助优先级制定提供参考依据。