[en] SPHERE (which stands for Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast
Exoplanet REsearch) is a second-generation Very Large Telescope (VLT)
instrument dedicated to high-contrast direct imaging of exoplanets which firstlight
is scheduled for 2011. Within this complex instrument one of the central
components is the apodized Lyot coronagraph (ALC). The present paper
reports on themost interesting aspects and results of the whole numerical study
made during the design of the ALC for SPHERE/VLT. The method followed
for this study is purely numerical, but with an end-to-end approach which
is largely fed by a number of instrumental feedbacks. The results obtained
and presented in this paper firstly permit to finalize the optical design before laboratory performance testing of the ALC being built for SPHERE/VLT
(see paper II “Laboratory tests and performances”), but will also hopefully
help conceiving future other instruments alike, for example within the very
promising extremely large telescope perspective.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Carbillet, Marcel; Université de Nice > Laboratoire H. Fizeau
Bendjoya, Philippe; Université de Nice > Laboratoire H. Fizeau
Abe, Lyu; Université de Nice > Laboratoire H. Fizeau
Guerri, Géraldine ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Astroph. extragalactique et observations spatiales (AEOS)
Boccaletti, Anthony; Observatoire de Paris > LESIA
Daban, Jean-Baptiste; Université de Nice > Laboratoire H. Fizeau
Dohlen, Kjetil; Observatoire Astronomique de Marseille Provence > LAM
Ferrari, André; Université de Nice > Laboratoire H. Fizeau
Robbe-Dubois, Sylvie; Université de Nice > Laboratoire H. Fizeau
Douet, Richard; Université de Nice > Laboratoire H. Fizeau
Vakili, Farrokh; Université de Nice > Laboratoire H. Fizeau
Language :
English
Title :
Apodized Lyot coronagraph for SPHERE/VLT I. Detailed numerical study
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