Open AccessAstronomical demonstration of an optical vortex coronagraph
Author(s) -
Grover A. Swartzlander,
Erin L. Ford,
Rukiah S. Abdul-Malik,
Laird M. Close,
Mary Anne Peters,
David Palacios,
Daniel W. Wilson
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.16.010200
Subject(s) - coronagraph , physics , optics , optical vortex , vortex , telescope , optical telescope , adaptive optics , astronomy , stars , exoplanet , beam (structure) , thermodynamics
Using an optical vortex coronagraph and simple adaptive optics techniques, we have made the first convincing demonstration of an optical vortex coronagraph that is coupled to a star gazing telescope. We suppressed by 97% the primary star of a resolvable binary system, Cor Caroli. The stars had an angular separation of 1.9lambda/D at our imaging camera. The secondary star suffered no suppression from the vortex lens.