Context. To directly image rocky exoplanets in reflected (polarized) light, future space-and
ground-based high-contrast imagers and telescopes aim to reach extreme contrasts at close …

Context. Next-generation large segmented mirror telescopes are expected to perform direct
imaging and characterization of Earth-like rocky planets, which requires contrast limits of …

Polarization aberrations originating from the telescope and high-contrast imaging instrument
optics introduce polarization-dependent speckles and associated errors in the image plane …

The flux difference between a terrestrial exoplanet and a much brighter nearby star creates
an enormous optical design challenge for space-based imaging systems. Coronagraphs are …

High-contrast imaging in the next decade aims to image exoplanets at smaller angular
separations and deeper contrasts than ever before. A problem that has recently garnered …

Direct imaging and spectroscopy of terrestrial exoplanets requires the control of vector
electromagnetic fields to approximately one part in ten to the fifth over a few milliarc second …

A major goal of proposed future space observatories, such as the Habitable World
Observatory, is to directly image and characterize Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars to …

Assessing and optimizing polarization performance in the context of ray-based optical
design can be challenging. We describe an approach to this problem that decouples …

This work quantifies the influence of the terrestrial atmosphere on the instrumental
polarization (IP) of telescopes. Our numerical simulations show that seeing mostly induces a …

Detailed knowledge of the image of the point spread function (PSF) is necessary to optimize
astronomical coronagraph masks and to understand potential sources of errors in …