The Potential of Exozodiacal Disks Observations with the WFIRST Coronagraph Instrument
2019
The
Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope(WFIRST)
CoronagraphInstrument (CGI) will be the first high-performance stellar
coronagraphusing active wavefront control for deep
starlightsuppression in space, providing unprecedented levels of contrast, spatial resolution, and sensitivity for astronomical observations in the optical. One science case enabled by the CGI will be taking images and(R~50)spectra of faint interplanetary dust structures present in the habitable zone of nearby sunlike stars (~10 pc) and within the
snow-lineof more distant ones(~20pc), down to dust density levels commensurate with that of the solar system
zodiacalcloud. Reaching contrast levels below~10-7 for the first time, CGI will cross an important threshold in
debris disks
physics,
accessingdisks with low enough optical depths that their structure is dominated by
transport phenomenathan collisions. Hence, CGI results will be crucial for determining how
exozodiacal dustgrains are produced and transported in low-density disks around mature stars. Additionally, CGI will be able to measure the brightness level and constrain the degree of asymmetry of exozodiacal clouds around individual nearby sunlike stars in the optical, at the ~10x solar
zodiacalemission level. This information will be extremely valuable for optimizing the observational strategy of possible future exo-Earth direct imaging missions, especially those planning to operate at optical wavelengths, such as Habitable
ExoplanetObservatory (HabEx) and the Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared
Surveyor(LUVOIR).
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