Pupil remapping for high contrast astronomy: results from an optical testbed

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a laboratory validation of a pupil remapping technique using single mode fibers to improve high contrast imaging for Earth-like exoplanet detection.

Contribution

It introduces a novel optical instrument concept employing coherent waveguides for pupil remapping to enhance astronomical imaging.

Findings

Successfully retrieved images of a simulated binary star

Validated the theoretical concept of pupil remapping with fibers

Demonstrated potential for atmospheric blurring removal

Abstract

The direct imaging and characterization of Earth-like planets is among the most sought-after prizes in contemporary astrophysics, however current optical instrumentation delivers insufficient dynamic range to overcome the vast contrast differential between the planet and its host star. New opportunities are offered by coherent single mode fibers, whose technological development has been motivated by the needs of the telecom industry in the near infrared. This paper presents a new vision for an instrument using coherent waveguides to remap the pupil geometry of the telescope. It would (i) inject the full pupil of the telescope into an array of single mode fibers, (ii) rearrange the pupil so fringes can be accurately measured, and (iii) permit image reconstruction so that atmospheric blurring can be totally removed. Here we present a laboratory experiment whose goal was to validate the theoretical concepts underpinning our proposed method. We successfully confirmed that we can retrieve the image of a simulated astrophysical object (in this case a binary star) though a pupil remapping instrument using single mode fibers.