Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument Observation Calibration Plan

TL;DR

The paper details the calibration plan for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's Coronagraph Instrument, aiming to achieve high-precision direct imaging by mitigating potential errors through on-sky calibrations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive calibration strategy for the Roman Coronagraph, addressing potential error sources and mitigation techniques for high-contrast imaging.

Findings

Calibration plan identifies key error sources.

Mitigation strategies for on-sky calibrations.

Expected high-contrast imaging performance.

Abstract

NASA's next flagship mission, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, is a 2.4-meter observatory set to launch no later than May 2027. Roman features two instruments: the Wide Field Imager and the Coronagraph Instrument. Roman's Coronagraph is a Technology Demonstration that will push the current capabilities of direct imaging to smaller contrast ratios ($\sim$10$^{-9}$) and inner-working angles (3~$\lambda$/D). In order to achieve this high precision, Roman Coronagraph data must be calibrated to remove as many potential sources of error as possible. Here we present a detailed overview of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument Observation Calibration Plan including identifying potential sources of error and how they will be mitigated via on-sky calibrations.