The PICTURE-C exoplanetary imaging balloon mission: second flight results and the transition to a new mission, PICTURE-D

Christopher B. Mendillo; Kuravi Hewawasam; Jason Martel; Thaddeus Potter; Sunip Mukherjee; Timothy A. Cook; Supriya Chakrabarti; Frans Snik; David S. Doelman; Dan Sirbu; Ruslan Belikov; Eduardo Bendek; Karl Stapelfeldt; Schuyler Grace Wolff

doi:10.1117/12.2677518

The PICTURE-C exoplanetary imaging balloon mission: second flight results and the transition to a new mission, PICTURE-D

Christopher B. Mendillo, Kuravi Hewawasam, Jason Martel, Thaddeus Potter, Sunip Mukherjee, Timothy A. Cook, Supriya Chakrabarti, Frans Snik, David S. Doelman, Dan Sirbu, Ruslan Belikov, Eduardo Bendek, Karl Stapelfeldt, Schuyler Grace Wolff

Steward Observatory

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The PICTURE-C balloon mission launched on its second flight from Fort Sumner, NM on September 28, 2022. During this flight, PICTURE-C, which consists of a 60 cm off-axis telescope feeding a vector vortex coronagraph, demonstrated the first high-contrast dark hole from an observatory in a near-space environment. The coronagraph achieved a modest broadband (20%) contrast ratio of 5×10^´6, with performance limited by dynamic pointing transients. The low-order wavefront control system achieved optical pointing stabilization of 1 milliarcseconds RMS for intervals of up to 30 seconds between these transients. This paper will summarize the second flight results and present the development path for PICTURE-D, the next generation direct imaging balloon mission.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI
Editors	Garreth J. Ruane
Publisher	SPIE
ISBN (Electronic)	9781510665743
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677518
State	Published - 2023
Event	Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI 2023 - San Diego, United States Duration: Aug 21 2023 → Aug 24 2023

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume	12680
ISSN (Print)	0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)	1996-756X

Conference

Conference	Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI 2023
Country/Territory	United States
City	San Diego
Period	8/21/23 → 8/24/23

Keywords

balloon
direct imaging
exoplanets
fine pointing
high-contrast imaging
wavefront control

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Computer Science Applications
Applied Mathematics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1117/12.2677518

Cite this

Mendillo, C. B., Hewawasam, K., Martel, J., Potter, T., Mukherjee, S., Cook, T. A., Chakrabarti, S., Snik, F., Doelman, D. S., Sirbu, D., Belikov, R., Bendek, E., Stapelfeldt, K., & Wolff, S. G. (2023). The PICTURE-C exoplanetary imaging balloon mission: second flight results and the transition to a new mission, PICTURE-D. In G. J. Ruane (Ed.), Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI Article 126800F (Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering; Vol. 12680). SPIE. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677518

The PICTURE-C exoplanetary imaging balloon mission: second flight results and the transition to a new mission, PICTURE-D. / Mendillo, Christopher B.; Hewawasam, Kuravi; Martel, Jason et al.
Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI. ed. / Garreth J. Ruane. SPIE, 2023. 126800F (Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering; Vol. 12680).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Mendillo, CB, Hewawasam, K, Martel, J, Potter, T, Mukherjee, S, Cook, TA, Chakrabarti, S, Snik, F, Doelman, DS, Sirbu, D, Belikov, R, Bendek, E, Stapelfeldt, K & Wolff, SG 2023, The PICTURE-C exoplanetary imaging balloon mission: second flight results and the transition to a new mission, PICTURE-D. in GJ Ruane (ed.), Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI., 126800F, Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, vol. 12680, SPIE, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI 2023, San Diego, United States, 8/21/23. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677518

Mendillo CB, Hewawasam K, Martel J, Potter T, Mukherjee S, Cook TA et al. The PICTURE-C exoplanetary imaging balloon mission: second flight results and the transition to a new mission, PICTURE-D. In Ruane GJ, editor, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI. SPIE. 2023. 126800F. (Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering). doi: 10.1117/12.2677518

@inproceedings{9cbc01026c024190950572890acd209b,

title = "The PICTURE-C exoplanetary imaging balloon mission: second flight results and the transition to a new mission, PICTURE-D",

abstract = "The PICTURE-C balloon mission launched on its second flight from Fort Sumner, NM on September 28, 2022. During this flight, PICTURE-C, which consists of a 60 cm off-axis telescope feeding a vector vortex coronagraph, demonstrated the first high-contrast dark hole from an observatory in a near-space environment. The coronagraph achieved a modest broadband (20%) contrast ratio of 5×10´6, with performance limited by dynamic pointing transients. The low-order wavefront control system achieved optical pointing stabilization of 1 milliarcseconds RMS for intervals of up to 30 seconds between these transients. This paper will summarize the second flight results and present the development path for PICTURE-D, the next generation direct imaging balloon mission.",

keywords = "balloon, direct imaging, exoplanets, fine pointing, high-contrast imaging, wavefront control",

author = "Mendillo, {Christopher B.} and Kuravi Hewawasam and Jason Martel and Thaddeus Potter and Sunip Mukherjee and Cook, {Timothy A.} and Supriya Chakrabarti and Frans Snik and Doelman, {David S.} and Dan Sirbu and Ruslan Belikov and Eduardo Bendek and Karl Stapelfeldt and Wolff, {Schuyler Grace}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 SPIE.; Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI 2023 ; Conference date: 21-08-2023 Through 24-08-2023",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1117/12.2677518",

language = "English (US)",

series = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",

publisher = "SPIE",

editor = "Ruane, {Garreth J.}",

booktitle = "Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI",

}

TY - GEN

T1 - The PICTURE-C exoplanetary imaging balloon mission

T2 - Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI 2023

AU - Mendillo, Christopher B.

AU - Hewawasam, Kuravi

AU - Martel, Jason

AU - Potter, Thaddeus

AU - Mukherjee, Sunip

AU - Cook, Timothy A.

AU - Chakrabarti, Supriya

AU - Snik, Frans

AU - Doelman, David S.

AU - Sirbu, Dan

AU - Belikov, Ruslan

AU - Bendek, Eduardo

AU - Stapelfeldt, Karl

AU - Wolff, Schuyler Grace

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The PICTURE-C balloon mission launched on its second flight from Fort Sumner, NM on September 28, 2022. During this flight, PICTURE-C, which consists of a 60 cm off-axis telescope feeding a vector vortex coronagraph, demonstrated the first high-contrast dark hole from an observatory in a near-space environment. The coronagraph achieved a modest broadband (20%) contrast ratio of 5×10´6, with performance limited by dynamic pointing transients. The low-order wavefront control system achieved optical pointing stabilization of 1 milliarcseconds RMS for intervals of up to 30 seconds between these transients. This paper will summarize the second flight results and present the development path for PICTURE-D, the next generation direct imaging balloon mission.

AB - The PICTURE-C balloon mission launched on its second flight from Fort Sumner, NM on September 28, 2022. During this flight, PICTURE-C, which consists of a 60 cm off-axis telescope feeding a vector vortex coronagraph, demonstrated the first high-contrast dark hole from an observatory in a near-space environment. The coronagraph achieved a modest broadband (20%) contrast ratio of 5×10´6, with performance limited by dynamic pointing transients. The low-order wavefront control system achieved optical pointing stabilization of 1 milliarcseconds RMS for intervals of up to 30 seconds between these transients. This paper will summarize the second flight results and present the development path for PICTURE-D, the next generation direct imaging balloon mission.

KW - balloon

KW - direct imaging

KW - exoplanets

KW - fine pointing

KW - high-contrast imaging

KW - wavefront control

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178105360&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85178105360&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1117/12.2677518

DO - 10.1117/12.2677518

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85178105360

T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

BT - Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI

A2 - Ruane, Garreth J.

PB - SPIE

Y2 - 21 August 2023 through 24 August 2023

ER -

The PICTURE-C exoplanetary imaging balloon mission: second flight results and the transition to a new mission, PICTURE-D

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this