NSF/AFOSR Astronomy: The Lyot Project: Optimized, Diffraction-Limited Coronagraphy

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The Lyot Project extends the use of the classical coronagraph instrument to the 3.63 meter high-order adaptive optics telescope operated by the U.S. Air Force on Maui. The diffraction-limited images obtained using the telescope/coronagraph combination will allow detailed observations of circumstellar material extremely close to the associated star, which acts as its own wavefront sensor. The coronagraph will, for the first time, directly probe solar system scales and companion masses below the brown dwarf range. The current project will improve the functionality of the existing coronagraph by implementing a novel phase-mask and a special system that images perpendicular polarization vectors simultaneously.