Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Technology Development

Dr. Benjamin L. Gerard
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Darwin 103
3:00 PM

US Astronomers have recently listed habitable exoplanet imaging — imaging and spectroscopy of a planet around another star that can harbor life on it's surface — as a top priority in the coming decades. However, our current telescopes and state-of-the-art technologies are insufficient to enable this high-priority science goal. Dr. Gerard will discuss adaptive optics and coronagraphic technologies he has been developing to bridge this gap and help enable habitable exoplanet imaging in the coming decades.