Space Telescope Design to Directly Image the Habitable Zone of Alpha Centauri

Abstract: The scientific interest in directly imaging and identifying Earth-like planets within the Habitable Zone (HZ) around nearby stars is driving the design of specialized direct imaging missions such as ACESAT, EXO-C, EXO-S and AFTA-C. The inner edge of Alpha Cen A&B Habitable Zone is found at exceptionally large angular separations of 0.7″ and 0.4″ respectively. This enables direct imaging of the system with a 0.3m class telescope. Contrast ratios on the order of 10(exp 10) are needed to image E…