Astrophysics |
Authors: Brent Hartshorn
Direct imaging of Earth-like exoplanets demands a contrast ratio of 10^10—far beyond conventional ground-based coronagraphy. We present a unified atmospheric architecture that eliminates the need for a dedicated space observatory.Its centerpiece is the Drone-Borne Synthetic Aperture Starshade (DSAS): a multi-ring UAV formation at staggered altitudes, each ring suspending programmable electro-optical fabric that acts simultaneously as an adaptive occulting mask, a multi-plane Fresnel zone plate, and a distributed wavefront sensor. Real-time apodization via the Huygens-Fresnel integral, combined with an internal Optical Vortex Phase Mask (OVPM), is projected to deliver 10-10 contrast at the detector.As a complementary opportunistic channel, Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) occultations observed near Radial-Velocity Stationary Points with pre-positioned linear telescope arrays convert rapidshadow transits into scientifically viable integration windows.
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