Towards Starlight Suppression for the Habitable Worlds Observatory Workshop

REGISTER https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exep/events/457/register/
August 8-10, 2023 Time TBA
Remote participation is available
Chairs: Brendan Crill (NASA/JPL) and Laura Coyle (Ball Aerospace)

NASA has begun planning for an ambitious program to develop the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) – the first in a panchromatic suite of Great Observatories recommended by the Astro2020 Decadal Survey. The high-level science goals of the mission are to directly image ~25 potentially Earth-like planets and spectroscopically characterize them for signs of life, as well as enable transformative general astrophysics. The starlight suppression capability of HWO will require significant performance advances both in coronagraphy and telescope stability.

To establish a common foundation in starlight suppression and ultra-stable telescope technologies, NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program is holding this hybrid workshop, August 8-10, 2023.

The goals of this free hybrid (in-person/remote) workshop are to:

Discuss current best understanding of required starlight suppression performance levels
Present the best performances to-date of key technologies and approaches (lab demonstrations, modeling, hardware)

Discuss the suppression/stability trade space for the observatory and the coronagraph (note: this will not include performing trades, only mapping out the space).

Discuss remaining technical gaps and potential future efforts for maturation/risk reduction
Provide a foundation for those interested in contributing to the Habitable Worlds Observatory