Infrared imaging of extrasolar planets

An optical system for direct detection, in the infrared, of planets orbiting other stars is described. The proposed system consists of a large aperture (about 16 m) space-based telescope to which is attached a specialized imaging instrument containing a set of optical signal processing elements to suppress diffracted light from the central star. Starlight suppression is accomplished using coronagraphic apodization combined with rotational shearing interferometry. The possibility of designing the large telescope aperture to be of a deployable, multiarm configuration is examined, and it is shown that there is some sacrifice in performance relative to a filled, circular aperture.