PHYS/ASTR Colloquium: "Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Technology Development" - Dr. Benjamin Gerard (LBNL)

"Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Technology Development"
US Astronomers have recently listed habitable exoplanet imaging — imaging and spectroscopy of a planet around another star that can harbor life on its 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. I will discuss adaptive optics and coronagraphic technologies I have been developing to bridge this gap and help enable habitable exoplanet imaging in the coming decades.