Imaging exoplanets with the coronagraph of JWST/MIRI

The James Webb Space Telescope (former NGST) main objectives are the understanding of the Universe and the birth and formation of stars. To achieve this program JWST will include four instruments one of which is a mid IR camera and spectrometer named MIRI dedicated to the study of faint red-shifted galaxies. Such instruments is also particularly well suited to a search for extrasolar planets. Our group at Observatoire de Meudon develops a coronagraphic device for MIRI to take advantage of the favorable star/planet contrast in this spectral range. This paper presents the instrument we proposed, the expected performance and the lab experiment to qualify the manufacturing process of phase-mask coronagraphs.