The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) has been developing a next-generation coronagraph (NGC) in cooperation with NASA to measure the coronal electron density, temperature, and speed simultaneously, using four different optical filters around 400 nm. KASI organized an expedition to demonstrate the coronagraph measurement scheme and the instrumental technology during the 2017 total solar eclipse (TSE) across the USA. The observation site was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA. We built an eclipse observation system, the Diagnostic Coronal Experiment (DICE), composed of two identical telescopes to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. The observation was conducted at four wavelengths and three linear polarization directions in the limited total eclipse time of about 140 seconds. We successfully obtained polarization data for the corona but we were not able to obtain information on the coronal electron temperature and speed due to the low signal-to-noise ratio of the optical system and strong emission from prominences located at the western limb. In this study, we report the development of DICE and the observation results from the eclipse expedition. TSE observation and analysis with our self-developed instrument showed that a coronagraph needs to be designed carefully to achieve its scientific purpose. We gained valuable experience for future follow-up NASA-KASI joint missions: the Balloon-borne Investigation of the Temperature and Speed of Electrons in the Corona (BITSE) and the COronal Diagnostic EXperiment (CODEX).

In a solar coronagraph, the most important component is an occulter to block the direct light from the disk of the sun. Because the intensity of the solar outer corona is 10−6 to 10−10 times of that of the solar disk (I⊙), it is necessary to minimize scattering at the optical elements and diffraction at the occulter. Using a Fourier optic simulation and a stray light test, we investigated the performance of a compact coronagraph that uses an external truncated-cone occulter without an internal occulter and Lyot stop. In the simulation, the diffracted light was minimized to the order of 7.6 × 10−10 I⊙ when the cone angle c was about 0.39◦. The performance of the cone occulter was then tested by experiment. The level of the diffracted light reached the order of 6 × 10−9 I⊙ at c = 0.40◦. This is sufficient to observe the outer corona without additional optical elements such as a Lyot stop or inner occulter. We also found the manufacturing tolerance of the cone angle to be 0.05◦, the lateral alignment tolerance was 45 μm, and the angular alignment tolerance was 0.043◦. Our results suggest that the physical size of coronagraphs can be shortened significantly by using a cone occulter.

The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute plans to develop a coronagraph in collaboration with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and to install it on the International Space Station (ISS). The coronagraph is an externally occulted one-stage coronagraph with a field of view from 3 to 15 solar radii. The observation wavelength is approximately 400~nm, where strong Fraunhofer absorption lines from the photosphere experience thermal broadening and Doppler shift through scattering by coronal electrons. Photometric filter observations around this band enable the estimation of 2D electron temperature and electron velocity distribution in the corona. Together with a high time cadence ($<$12~min) of corona images used to determine the geometric and kinematic parameters of coronal mass ejections, the coronagraph will yield the spatial distribution of electron density by measuring the polarized brightness. For the purpose of technical demonstration, we intend to observe the total solar eclipse in August 2017 with the filter system and to perform a stratospheric balloon experiment in 2019 with the engineering model of the coronagraph. The coronagraph is planned to be installed on the ISS in 2021 for addressing a number of questions (e.g., coronal heating and solar wind acceleration) that are both fundamental and practically important in the physics of the solar corona and of the heliosphere.

This paper reviews the legacy of the SPCIA Coronagraph Instrument (SCI) of which the primary scientic objective is the characterization of Jovian exoplanets by coronagraphic spectroscopy in the infrared. Studies on binary shaped pupil mask coronagraphs are described. Cryogenic active optics is discussed as another key technology. Then approaches to observing habitable zones in exoplanetary systems with a passively-cooled space infrared telescope are discussed. The SCI was dropped in a drastic change of the SPICA mission. However, its legacy is useful for space-borne infrared telescopes dedicated for use in exoplanetary science in the future, especially for studies of biomarkers.

The coronagraph is an instrument that enables the investigation of faint features in the vicinity of the Sun, particularly coronal mass ejections (CMEs). So far coronagraphic observations have been mainly used to determine the geometric and kinematic parameters of CMEs. Here, we introduce a new method for the determination of CME temperature using a two filter (4025 °A and 3934 °A) coronagraph system. The thermal motion of free electrons in CMEs broadens the absorption lines in the optical spectra that are produced by the Thomson scattering of visible light originating in the photosphere, which affects the intensity ratio at two different wavelengths. Thus the CME temperature can be inferred from the intensity ratio measured by the two filter coronagraph system. We demonstrate the method by invoking the graduated cylindrical shell (GCS) model for the 3-dimensional CME density distribution and discuss its significance.