Conformal Nanotube Baffle for a Compact Coronagraph

The development of a conformal nanotube process is enabling for many applications in solar physics and space astrophysics (e.g., direct detection and imaging of exoplanets). Coronagraphs are key heliophysics instruments because they image coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are the most energetic phenomena on the Sun. CMEs have wide-ranging impact on the heliosphere, from interplanetary spacecraft to Earthorbiting satellites, communications, and astronaut safety; in short, they are major drivers of space weather. In a typical space-based coronagraph, an external occulter blocks light from the disk of the Sun so that the corona (about a million times dimmer) can be imaged. The occulter must suppress both diffracted light and stray light.