2026/08/04 by Hugo Rousset, Eric Thiébaut, Chloé Rey +8
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph.IM
published as SPIE Astronomical Telescopes Instrumentation, Jul 2026, Copenhagen, Denmark
arxiv created 2026/08/04 · arxiv updated 2026/08/05
The detection of Earth-like exoplanets via astrometry necessitates centroiding precision at the 0.3 μas level, thereby imposing stringent constraints on the focal plane geometry of space telescopes. The AGATE focal plane instrument, a proposed component of the NASA Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), aims to achieve this objective through the calibration of the intra-pixel response function of CMOS detectors to an accuracy of 50 μpix (220 nm The present paper proposes a Young's fringes-based calibration method, derived from those employed by JPL and IPAG, for the purpose of mapping the pixel response barycenter offsets across the detector. Using a Pyxalis GIGAPYX-4600 CMOS sensor, we demonstrate via simulations and laboratory measurements that (1) a precision of 5x10______ pix is achievable with 10,000 frames (current setup); (2) inter-pixel capacitance crosstalk and fringe hyperbolicity are dominating the errors at small and large scales, respectively; and, (3) an iterative inverse problem approach with a hyperbolic fringe model is proposed to overcome paraxial approximation limits for 1 Gpix focal planes. These results pave the way for on-board calibration of HWO's astrometric instrument, ensuring the sub-μas precision required for exo-Earth detection.