Post-Processing of Roman Space Telescope CGI Data

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly WFIRST) will be launched in 2026 with an onboard technology demonstrator for exoplanet direct imaging. The Roman Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) will be capable of detecting and characterizing exoplanets and circumstellar disks in visible light at the unprecedented contrast level of ~10-9. Such a contrast level, which is several magnitudes better than state-of-the-art coronagraphs, raises entirely new challenges that will be overcome using a combination of hardware, calibration and data processing. In particular, the Roman CGI will be the first space-based coronagraphic instrument with active wavefront control; its EMCCD detector will enable frame acquisition in photon-counting mode. Detecting a Jupiter-like planet in reflected light requires observations of tens to hundreds of hours, during which the instrumental aberrations may evolve significantly. Therefore, innovative observing strategies and post-processing techniques are being developed, accounting for this very unique instrument and its requirements. In this presentation, we will discuss our processing of the publicly available simulated data for the most recent observing scenario, and we will present the latest predicted performance before and after post-processing.

Speaker: Marie Ygouf (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

The Roman Lecture Series is a monthly virtual lecture series focused on the scientific capabilities and technology of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, organized by Roman Mission partners.