EXEP: Mountaintop Starshade Concept Study

Starshades are external occulters which would be
used in conjunction with a space telescope. The starshade has a
particular apodizing profile that effects strong suppression of
starlight within the starshade’s shadow. Since starshades that
would be used in space are large, typically 30 m diameter,
performance is difficult to test on the ground at realistic scales.
This paper examines the practical limits for testing starshades
at smaller scales in the atmosphere and goes on to describe
concepts for testing starshades using ground based telescopes
and using starshades for astronomical observations.