Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraphs for Arbitrary Telescope Apertures

In the context of high dynamic range imaging, this study presents a breakthrough for the understanding of apodized pupil Lyot coronagraphs, making them available for arbitrary aperture shapes. These new solutions find immediate application in current, ground-based coronagraphic studies (Gemini, VLT) and in existing instruments (Advanced Electro-Optical System Lyot Project). They also offer the possibility of a search for an on-axis design for the Terrestrial Planet Finder . The unobstructed aperture case has already been solved by C. Aime et al. and R. Soummer et al. Analytical solutions with identical properties exist in the general case and, in particular, for centrally obscured apertures. Chromatic effects can be mitigated with a numerical optimization. The combination of analytical and numerical solutions enables the study of the complete parameter space (central obstruction, apodization throughput, mask size, bandwidth, and Lyot stop size).