Towards Autodifferentiable Point Spread Function Modelling for the VLT/ERIS Vortex Coronagraph
arXiv:2607.29524
Abstract
High-contrast imaging of exoplanets is limited by the presence of quasi-static speckles and existing post-processing methods remain above the theoretical noise limit. We investigate a novel framework that incorporates adaptive optics (AO) wavefront sensor telemetry into post-processing using a differentiable optical model of the ERIS vortex coronagraph. As a first proof of concept, we inject AO telemetry into an ERIS forward model and assess its ability to reproduce the on-sky point spread function (PSF). We find that jitter discrepancies between the science camera and the AO telemetry hinder accurate PSF reconstruction. We proposed a plan to characterise this jitter and find its mechanical origin.
9 pages, paper presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2026