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Suppressing a Sea of Starlight : enabling technology for the direct imaging of exoplanets
In this thesis we present multiple techniques to suppress starlight in order to better directly image planets around other stars. We propose a laboratory setup to test a new focal-plane wavefront sensing technique. We also show an optical device that suppresses starlight using liquid crystals (the vector Apodizing Phase Plate or vAPP). A broadband prototype (500-900 nm) is tested in the optical lab and its properties are determined. We suggest an simple but effective adaptation called the grating-vAPP which is insensitive to one of the common manufacturing errors (retardance offset). Two versions are tested on-sky. One narrow-band prototype at the Large Binocular Telescope that shows that the concept of the grating vAPP works. A second at Magellan/Clay that shows that we can produce a single optic with a broadband behaviour from 2 to 5 microns bandwidth...
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In this thesis we present multiple techniques to suppress starlight in order to better directly image planets around other stars. We propose a laboratory setup to test a new focal-plane wavefront sensing technique. We also show an optical device that suppresses starlight using liquid crystals (the vector Apodizing Phase Plate or vAPP). A broadband prototype (500-900 nm) is tested in the optical lab and its properties are determined. We suggest an simple but effective adaptation called the grating-vAPP which is insensitive to one of the common manufacturing errors (retardance offset). Two versions are tested on-sky. One narrow-band prototype at the Large Binocular Telescope that shows that the concept of the grating vAPP works. A second at Magellan/Clay that shows that we can produce a single optic with a broadband behaviour from 2 to 5 microns bandwidth that suppresses both sides of the star simultaneously. The on-sky 5 sigma contrast is 8.3 magnitudes at 2 lambda/D and 12.2 magnitudes at 3.5 lambda/D which makes this coronagraph extremely suited for imaging and characterizing planets close to nearby bright stars.
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- All authors
- Otten, G.P.P.L.
- Supervisor
- Keller, Christoph U.
- Co-supervisor
- Kenworthy, Matthew A.; Snik, Frans
- Committee
- Doelman, N.J.; Linnartz, H.V.J.; Röttgering, H.J.A.; Snellen, I.A.G.; Absil, O.; Pereira, S.F.
- Qualification
- Doctor (dr.)
- Awarding Institution
- Leiden Observatory, Science, Leiden University
- Date
- 2016-11-29