Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userOn-sky compensation of non-common path aberrations with the ZELDA wavefront sensor in VLT/SPHERE
129
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Circumstellar environments are now routinely observed by dedicated high-contrast imagers on large, ground-based observatories. These facilities combine extreme adaptive optics and coronagraphy to achieve unprecedented sensitivities for exoplanet detection and spectral characterization. However, non-common path aberrations (NCPA) in these coronagraphic systems represent a critical limitation for the detection of giant planets with a contrast lower than a few $10^{-6}$ at very small separations ($<$0.3$^{primeprime}$) from their host star. In 2013 we proposed ZELDA, a Zernike wavefront sensor to measure these residual quasi-static phase aberrations and a prototype was installed in SPHERE, the exoplanet imager for the VLT. In 2016, we demonstrated the ability of our sensor to provide a nanometric calibration and compensation for these aberrations on an internal source in the instrument, resulting in a contrast gain of 10 at 0.2$^{primeprime}$ in coronagraphic images. However, initial on-sky tests in 2017 did not show a tangible gain in contrast when calibrating the NCPA internally and then applying the correction on sky. In this communication, we present recent on-sky measurements to demonstrate the potential of our sensor for the NCPA compensation during observations and quantify the contrast gain in coronagraphic data.
rate research
Read More
Second-generation exoplanet imagers using extreme adaptive optics and coronagraphy have demonstrated their great potential for studying close circumstellar environments and for detecting new companions and helping to understand their physical properties. However, at very small angular separation, their performance in contrast is limited by several factors: diffraction by the complex telescope pupil not perfectly canceled by the coronagraph, residual dynamic wavefront errors, chromatic wavefront errors, and wavefront errors resulting from noncommon path aberrations (NCPAs). In a previous work, we demonstrated the use of a Zernike wavefront sensor called ZELDA for sensing NCPAs in VLT/SPHERE and their compensation. In the present work, we move to the next step with the on-sky validation of NCPA compensation with ZELDA. We start by reproducing previous results on the internal source and show that the amount of aberration integrated between 1 and 15 cycles/pupil is decreased by a factor of five, which translates into a gain in raw contrast of between 2 and 3 below 300 mas. On sky, we demonstrate that NCPA compensation works in closed loop, leading to an attenuation of the amount of aberration by a factor of approximately two. However, we identify a loss of sensitivity for the sensor that is only partly explained by the difference in Strehl ratio between the internal and on-sky measurements. Coronagraphic imaging on sky is improved in raw contrast by a factor of 2.5 at most in the ExAO-corrected region. We use coronagraphic image reconstruction based on a detailed model of the instrument to demonstrate that both internal and on-sky raw contrasts can be precisely explained, and we establish that the observed performance after NCPA compensation is no longer limited by an improper compensation for aberration but by the current apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph design. [abridged]
Warm or massive gas giant planets, brown dwarfs, and debris disks around nearby stars are now routinely observed by dedicated high-contrast imaging instruments on large, ground-based observatories. These facilities include extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) and state-of-the-art coronagraphy to achieve unprecedented sensitivities for exoplanet detection and spectral characterization. However, differential aberrations between the ExAO sensing path and the science path represent a critical limitation for the detection of giant planets with a contrast lower than a few $10^{-6}$ at very small separations (<0.3as) from their host star. In our previous work, we proposed a wavefront sensor based on Zernike phase contrast methods to circumvent this issue and measure these quasi-static aberrations at a nanometric level. We present the design, manufacturing and testing of ZELDA, a prototype that was installed on VLT/SPHERE during its reintegration in Chile. Using the internal light source of the instrument, we performed measurements in the presence of Zernike or Fourier modes introduced with the deformable mirror. Our experimental and simulation results are consistent, confirming the ability of our sensor to measure small aberrations (<50 nm rms) with nanometric accuracy. We then corrected the long-lived non-common path aberrations in SPHERE based on ZELDA measurements. We estimated a contrast gain of 10 in the coronagraphic image at 0.2as, reaching the raw contrast limit set by the coronagraph in the instrument. The simplicity of the design and its phase reconstruction algorithm makes ZELDA an excellent candidate for the on-line measurements of quasi-static aberrations during the observations. The implementation of a ZELDA-based sensing path on the current and future facilities (ELTs, future space missions) could ease the observation of the cold gaseous or massive rocky planets around nearby stars.
Segmented aperture telescopes require an alignment procedure with successive steps from coarse alignment to monitoring process in order to provide very high optical quality images for stringent science operations such as exoplanet imaging. The final step, referred to as fine phasing, calls for a high sensitivity wavefront sensing and control system in a diffraction-limited regime to achieve segment alignment with nanometric accuracy. In this context, Zernike wavefront sensors represent promising options for such a calibration. A concept called the Zernike unit for segment phasing (ZEUS) was previously developed for ground-based applications to operate under seeing-limited images. Such a concept is, however, not suitable for fine cophasing with diffraction-limited images. We revisit ZELDA, a Zernike sensor that was developed for the measurement of residual aberrations in exoplanet direct imagers, to measure segment piston, tip, and tilt in the diffraction-limited regime. We introduce a novel analysis scheme of the sensor signal that relies on piston, tip, and tilt estimators for each segment, and provide probabilistic insights to predict the success of a closed-loop correction as a function of the initial wavefront error. The sensor unambiguously and simultaneously retrieves segment piston and tip-tilt misalignment. Our scheme allows for correction of these errors in closed-loop operation down to nearly zero residuals in a few iterations. This sensor also shows low sensitivity to misalignment of its parts and high ability for operation with a relatively bright natural guide star. Our cophasing sensor relies on existing mask technologies that make the concept already available for segmented apertures in future space missions.
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) entered on-sky commissioning phase, and had its First Light at the Gemini South telescope in November 2013. Meanwhile, the fast loops for atmospheric correction of the Extreme Adaptive Optics (XAO) system have been closed on many dozen stars at different magnitudes (I=4-8), elevation angles and a variety of seeing conditions, and a stable loop performance was achieved from the beginning. Ultimate contrast performance requires a very low residual wavefront error (design goal 60 nm RMS), and optimization of the planet finding instrument on different ends has just begun to deepen and widen its dark hole region. Laboratory raw contrast benchmarks are in the order of 10^-6 or smaller. In the telescope environment and in standard operations new challenges are faced (changing gravity, temperature, vibrations) that are tackled by a variety of techniques such as Kalman filtering, open-loop models to keep alignment to within 5 mas, speckle nulling, and a calibration unit (CAL). The CAL unit was especially designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to control slowly varying wavefront errors at the focal plane of the apodized Lyot coronagraph by the means of two wavefront sensors: 1) a 7x7 low order Shack-Hartmann SH wavefront sensor (LOWFS), and 2) a special Mach-Zehnder interferometer for mid-order spatial frequencies (HOWFS) - atypical in that the beam is split in the focal plane via a pinhole but recombined in the pupil plane with a beamsplitter. The original design goal aimed for sensing and correcting on a level of a few nm which is extremely challenging in a telescope environment. This paper focuses on non-common path low order wavefront correction as achieved through the CAL unit on sky. We will present the obtained results as well as explain challenges that we are facing.
Non Common Path Aberrations (NCPA) are often considered as a critical issue in Adaptive Optics (AO) systems, since they introduce bias errors between real wavefronts propagating to the science detectors and those measured by the Wavefront Sensor (WFS). This is especially true when the AO system is coupled to a coronagraph instrument intended for the discovery and characterization of extra-solar planets, because useful planet signals could be mistaken with residual speckles generated by NCPA. Therefore, compensating for those errors is of prime importance and is already the scope of a few theoretical studies and experimental validations on-sky. This communication presents the conceptual optical design of a pseudo-interferometer arrangement suitable to accurate NCPA calibration, based on two WFS cooperating in real-time. The concept is applicable to both classical imaging and spectroscopy assisted by AO, and to high-contrast coronagraphs searching for habitable extra-solar planets. Practical aspects are discussed, such as the choice of WFS and coronagraph types, or specific requirements on additional hardware components, e.g. dichroic beamsplitters
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
