High contrast imaging with JWST: early results and implications for future missions

The James Webb Space Telescope is the first segmented observatory in space to conduct, among other things, high-contrast direct observations of exoplanetary systems. Such observations are thus to date the more technically akin to the future reconnaissance of nearby habitable zones with the Habitable Worlds Observatory. While JWST coronagraphs are not sensitive to temperate telluric planets, mostly due to the absence of critical Deformable Mirrors that will fly on the Roman Coronagraph Instrument (CGI), their capabilities are have achieved a few milestones relevant to HWO. This paper is part of a series to be presented by the JWST Telescope Scientist Team, JWST-TST. A common theme of these investigations is the desire to pursue and demonstrate science for the astronomical community at the limits of what is made possible by the exquisite op- tics and stability of JWST. The high-contrast programs of TST were crafted to rapidly advance knowledge of high-contrast strategies and best practices with JWST early in the mission. In this paper, we summarize our results and discuss their implications for the ongoing HWO architecture formulation.