Cool Stars 14 - Submitted Abstract # 374
This version created on 05 October 2006

Hunting Planets and Observing Disks with the JWST NIRCAM Coronagraph


John Krist, JPL
Charles Beichman, Michelson Science Center
John Trauger, JPL
Michael Meyer, U. Arizona
Marcia Rieke, U. Arizona
George Rieke, U. Arizona
John Stansberry, U. Arizona
Scott Horner, Lockheed Martin
Karl Stapelfeldt, JPL

The expected stable point spread function, wide field of view, and
great sensitivity of the NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space
Telescope (JWST) will allow a simple, classical Lyot coronagraph to
detect hot Jovian-mass companions orbiting young (<1 Gyr) stars within
150  pc as well as Jupiters around the nearest, low-mass stars.  The
coronagraph will also be used to study protostellar and debris disks.
At 4.5 microns, where young planets are particularly bright relative
to their stars, and at separations beyond ~0.5", the low space
background gives JWST significant advantages over large ground-based
telescopes equipped with adaptive optics.  We discuss the scientific
opportunities for the NIRCam coronagraph, describe some technical
features of the instrument, and present end-to-end simulations of the
coronagraph with planets and disks.  

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