End-to-end numerical modeling of the Roman Space Telescope coronagraph

Abstract

The Roman Space Telescope will have the first advanced coronagraph in space, with deformable mirrors for wavefront control, low-order wavefront sensing and maintenance, and a photon-counting detector. It is expected to be able to detect and characterize mature, giant exoplanets in reflected visible light. Over the past decade the performance of the coronagraph in its flight environment has been simulated with increasingly detailed diffraction and structural/thermal finite element modeling. With the instrument now being integrated in preparation for launch within the next few years, the present state of the end-to-end modeling is described, including the measured flight components such as deformable mirrors. The coronagraphic modes are thoroughly described, including characteristics most readily derived from modeling. The methods for diffraction propagation, wavefront control, and structural and thermal finite-element modeling are detailed. The techniques and procedures developed for the instrument will serve as a foundation for future coronagraphic missions such as the Habitable Worlds Observatory.

113 pages, 85 figures, to be published in SPIE Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems

References in corpus (12)

• The James Webb Space Telescope Mission
• Fast computation of Lyot-style coronagraph propagation
• Atmospheric Monitoring and Precise Spectroscopy of the HR 8799 Planets with SCExAO/CHARIS
• Wavefront sensing and control in space-based coronagraph instruments using Zernike's phase-contrast method
• Flight mask designs of the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument
• Broadband Vector Vortex Coronagraph Testing at NASA's High Contrast Imaging Testbed Facility
• High-contrast imager for complex aperture telescopes (HiCAT): 5. first results with segmented-aperture coronagraph and wavefront control
• The Analytical Performance Model and Error Budget for the Roman Coronagraph Instrument
• A review of simulation and performance modeling for the Roman coronagraph instrument
• Updated simulation tools for Roman coronagraph PSFs
• Faster imaging simulation through complex systems: a coronagraphic example
• Simulations of polarimetric observations of debris disks through the Roman Coronagraph Instrument

Cited by in corpus (12)

• JWST-TST High Contrast: Living on the Wedge, or, NIRCam Bar Coronagraphy Reveals CO${}_2$ in the HR 8799 and 51 Eri Exoplanets' Atmospheres
• The Analytical Performance Model and Error Budget for the Roman Coronagraph Instrument
• High-order wavefront sensing and control for the Roman Coronagraph Instrument (CGI): architecture and measured performance
• The Roman coronagraph community participation program: observation planning
• Flight masks of the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument
• ESCAPE project: investigating active observing strategies and post-processing methods for exoplanet high-contrast imaging with future space missions
• The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Community Participation Program
• Modeling and performance analysis of Implicit Electric Field Conjugation with two deformable mirrors applied to the Roman Coronagraph
• Coronagraphic Data Post-processing Using Projections on Instrumental Modes
• CoronaGraph Instrument Reference stars for Exoplanets (CorGI-REx) I. Preliminary Vetting and Implications for the Roman Coronagraph and Habitable Worlds Observatory
• ESCAPE project. CAPyBARA: a Roman Coronagraph simulator for post-processing methods development
• Extended Linearity in the High-Order Wavefront Sensor for the Roman Coronagraph