Space Instrument Characterization

I am leading the characterization of the coronagraphic imaging limits for the Hubble Space Telescope (STIS coronagraph, GO-17135) and the James Webb Space Telescope (NIRCam coronagraph, GO-3087), specifically their empirical inner working angles.

Prior to these, I have characterized the detection limits for STIS coronagraph's BAR5 occulter (Ren et al. 2017, Debes, Ren & Schneider 2019), and performed simulated data reduction for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formly known as WFIRST)'s CGI instrument (Preparatory Science Project, WPS; manual by Poteet & Ren 2019).

1. Ongoing

(Ongoing project: 2023 March -- now) This page is created on 2023-04-07, more updates will arrive.

I am leading the first instrumentation demonstration to explore for the only-operating coronagraph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope – the Space Telescope Imaging Spesctrograph (STIS) – its inner working angle limits. This program – GO 17135 – uses 4 (later revised to 8) orbits of coronagraphic observations to image the HR 4796A debris disk that was already well-characterized to explore the capability of HST/STIS incremental dithering.

Initial release: the acuired centers, marked with + symbols, are the expected locations; the colored dots are where the inferred centers are. The x symbols are where the instrument is offsetting from.

Second release: actual reduction results will arrive.

Left: HST/STIS image of HR 4796A in Schneider et al. (2018). Right: GO-17135 "scanning" of the occulter.

How much closer-in can we see with the above instrument design? Stay tuned!

2. Completed

Prior to these, I have characterized the detection limits for STIS coronagraph's BAR5 occulter (Ren et al. 2017, Debes, Ren & Schneider 2019), and performed simulated data reduction for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formly known as WFIRST)'s CGI instrument (Preparatory Science Project, WPS; manual by Poteet & Ren 2019).