![\"coronagraph\"](\"http:\/\/arxivblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/coronagraph.jpg\" "\\"coronagraph\\"")
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First light from any instrument is always exciting but particularly so when exotic locations and exciting goals are involved.\u00a0 The CORONA experiment offers both.<\/p>\n
CORONA is a stellar coronagraph designed to spot extrasolar planets orbiting other stars. It is based at Dome C, some 10,000 feet above sea level in in Antarctica, a location that boasts some of the best seeing on the planet.<\/p>\n
The goal of the project is to test the feasibility of operating such a device in the harsh conditions that exist in the Antarctic, where temperatures can drop to -80 degrees C in winter.<\/p>\n
The result: at -65 degrees C the telescope showed some strong aberrations in test images of Sirius, probably the result of thermal distortions.<\/p>\n
Geraldine Guerri from the Universit\u00e9 de Nice Sophia-Antipolis in France and buddies say: “The coronagraph could not be operated in these conditions, and thus, no nighttime images are presently available. CORONA has been sent back to France to be modified.”<\/p>\n
That must have been disappointing, although their paper puts a brave face on things. Their plan is to eventually build a much more sophisticated coronagraph with adaptive optics.<\/p>\n
That won’t be easy and given their experience so far, it looks highly, perhaps overly, ambitious.<\/p>\n