Large sparse aperture densified pupil hypertelescope concept for groundbased detection of extrasolar planets

摘要

A concept is presented for a 10-meter sparse aperture hypertelescope to detect extrasolar planets by direct imaging from the ground through the turbulent atmosphere. The telescope achieves high dynamic range with good image quality very close to bright stellar sources using pupil densification techniques and real-time atmospheric correction. Active correction of the perturbed wavefront is greatly simplified by several unique design features of the telescope: 1) use of an array of 19 small subaperture flat mirrors, 2) mounting the flats on a steerable parabolic truss structure (eliminating the need for large pathlength corrections), 3) operating in the near-infrared (1-3 μm), and 4) making the subaperture flats comparable in size to the seeing cells. These features relax the requirements on the wavefront sensing and control system. This paper describes the general concept. The detail of design and implementation will be addressed separately.