The Potential of Rotating-Baseline Nulling Interferometers Operating within Large Single-Telescope Apertures
Abstract
The use of a rotating-baseline nulling interferometer for exoplanet detection was proposed several decades ago, but the technique has not yet been fully demonstrated in practice. Here we consider the faint companion and exozodiacal disk detection capabilities of rotating-baseline nulling interferometers, such as are envisioned for space-based infrared nullers, but operating instead within the aperture of large single telescopes. In particular, a nulling interferometer on a large aperture corrected by a next-generation extreme adaptive optics system can provide deep interferometric contrasts, and also reach smaller angles (sub λ/D) than classical coronagraphs. Such rotating nullers also provide validation for an eventual space-based rotating-baseline nulling interferometer. As practical examples, we describe ongoing experiments with rotating nullers at Palomar and Keck, and consider briefly the case of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
Additional Information
© 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). July 21, 2010. We thank the staffs of the Palomar and Keck Observatories for assistance with instrumental setups and with the observations. The research described herein was carried out in large part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA.Attached Files
Published - 396487.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 57822
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20150526-135350900
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- Created
-
2015-05-26Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Series Name
- Proceedings of SPIE
- Series Volume or Issue Number
- 7734