The Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT) III: Control Systems Analysis and Preliminary Results

[摘要] This work presents a detailed current performance analysis for the telescope, pointing, and coronagraph com- ponent subsystems of the Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT). The project pairs an active segmented mirror with the Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) towards demonstrating capabilities for the future space observatories needed to directly detect and characterize Earth-sized worlds around nearby stars. We describe approaches to optimize subsystem wavefront sensing and control parameters, summarizing relevant scal- ing relations between these parameters, residual errors, and observed contrast measurements. Preliminary results from diagnostic testing under various control states are presented along with intermediate contrast measurements towards demonstrating the full system.

[发布日期] 2018-06-10

[学科分类] 天体物理学

[关键词] APERTURES;CORONAGRAPHS;DETECTION;IMAGE CONTRAST;INTERFEROMETRY;RELIABILITY ANALYSIS;SEGMENTED MIRRORS;SYSTEMS ANALYSIS;TELESCOPES;WAVE FRONTS;ERRORS