The Habitable Worlds Observatory will attempt to image Earth-sized planets in Habitable
Zone orbits around nearby Sun-like stars. In this work we explore approximate analytic yield�…

The Astro2020 Decadal Survey recommended a “future large IR/O/UV telescope optimized
for observing habitable exoplanets and general astrophysics” that would “search for�…

We compare exoplanet direct imaging capabilities of WFIRST and mission concepts on the
scale of those considered in the Astrophysics Decadal Survey by running full mission�…

The expected yield of potentially Earth-like planets is a useful metric for designing future
exoplanet-imaging missions. Recent yield studies of direct-imaging missions have focused�…

We present a procedure for calculating expected exoplanet imaging yields that explicitly
separates the effects of instrument performance from assumptions of planet distributions�…

We use N t, the number of exoplanets observed in time t, as a science metric to study direct-
search missions like Terrestrial Planet Finder. In our model, N has 27 parameters, divided�…

Our ability to answer scientific questions about exoplanets hinges on satisfying an age-old
astronomical requirement: a sufficient sample size. Thus, the yield of exoplanets is critical to�…

Future exoplanet direct imaging instruments will be capability of detecting and spectrally
characterizing Earth-like exoplanets, but which stars to observe, how long they should be�…

ExoEarth yield is a critical science metric for future exoplanet imaging missions. Here we
estimate exoEarth candidate yield using single visit completeness for a variety of mission�…

We report on new methods for evaluating realistic observing programs that search stars for
planets by direct imaging, where observations are selected from an optimized star list and�…