The Lazuli Space Observatory: Architecture & Capabilities
Arpita Roy, Stuart Feldman, Pete Klupar, John DiPalma, Saul Perlmutter, Ewan S. Douglas, Greg Aldering, Gabor Furesz, Patrick Ingraham, Gudmundur Stefansson, Douglas Kelly, Fan Yang Yang, Thomas Wevers, Nicole Arulanantham, James Lasker, Mickael Rigault, Everett Schlawin

TL;DR
The Lazuli Space Observatory is a versatile 3-meter space telescope with rapid response and high-contrast imaging capabilities, designed for diverse astrophysical research including transient events, exoplanets, and cosmology.
Contribution
This paper introduces the architecture and capabilities of Lazuli, a novel space observatory with rapid response and high-contrast imaging, tailored for multiple science domains.
Findings
Diffraction-limited imaging with Strehl >0.8 at 633 nm.
Rapid response time under four hours from target alert.
High-contrast imaging reaching contrasts of 10^{-8} to 10^{-9}.
Abstract
The Lazuli Space Observatory is a 3-meter aperture astronomical facility designed for rapid-response observations and precision astrophysics across visible to near-infrared wavelengths (400-1700 nm bandpass). An off-axis, freeform telescope delivers diffraction-limited image quality (Strehl 0.8 at 633 nm) to three instruments across a wide, flat focal plane. The three instruments provide complementary capabilities: a Wide-field Context Camera (WCC) delivers multi-band imaging over a 35' 12' footprint with high-cadence photometry; an Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) provides continuous 400-1700 nm spectroscopy at R 100-500 for stable spectrophotometry; and an ExtraSolar Coronagraph (ESC) enables high-contrast imaging expected to reach raw contrasts of and post-processed contrasts approaching . Operating from a 3:1 lunar-resonant orbit, Lazuli will…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstronomy and Astrophysical Research · Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing · Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
