The DOI matches its Crossref record; 58 of the 60 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
FUNDAMENTAL LIMITATIONS OF HIGH CONTRAST IMAGING SET BY SMALL SAMPLE STATISTICS
Open accessAbstract
In this paper, we review the impact of small sample statistics on detection thresholds and corresponding confidence levels (CLs) in high-contrast imaging at small angles. When looking close to the star, the number of resolution elements decreases rapidly toward small angles. This reduction of the number of degrees of freedom dramatically affects CLs and false alarm probabilities. Naively using the same ideal hypothesis and methods as for larger separations, which are well understood and commonly assume Gaussian noise, can yield up to one order of magnitude error in contrast estimations at fixed CL. The statistical penalty exponentially increases toward very small inner working angles. Even at 5–10 resolution elements from the star, false alarm probabilities can be significantly higher than expected. Here we present a rigorous statistical analysis that ensures robustness of the CL, but also imposes a substantial limitation on corresponding achievable detection limits (thus contrast) at small angles. This unavoidable fundamental statistical effect has a significant impact on current coronagraphic and future high-contrast imagers. Finally, the paper concludes with practical recommendations to account for small number statistics when computing the sensitivity to companions at small angles and when exploiting the results of direct imaging planet surveys.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“The small number of statistically independent patches close to the central star means that a correction is required to the sensitivity as described in Mawet et al. (2014), and we apply this correction to the contrast curve.”
From ALMA and NACO observations towards the young exoring transit system J1407 (V1400 Cen) (2020) · cites this paper as Mawet et al. 2014
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
An analysis of variance test for normality (complete samples)
SHAPIRO, S. S., & WILK, M. B. (1965) · Biometrika · doi:10.1093/biomet/52.3-4.591 · Cited by 23,480
Individual Comparisons by Ranking Methods
Wilcoxon, F. (1945) · Biometrics Bulletin · doi:10.2307/3001968 · Cited by 15,354
Student (1908) · Biometrika · doi:10.1093/biomet/6.1.1 · Cited by 1,363
Angular Differential Imaging: A Powerful High‐Contrast Imaging Technique
Marois, C., Lafreniére, D., Doyon, R., Macintosh, B., & Nadeau, D. (2006) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/500401 · Cited by 1,092
Self-citationRobust Statistical Modeling Using the t Distribution
Lange, K. L., Little, R. J. A., & Taylor, J. M. G. (1989) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.1080/01621459.1989.10478852 · Cited by 1,040
Soummer, R., Pueyo, L. A., & Larkin, J. (2012) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/755/2/l28 · Cited by 816
Self-citationRevised standards for statistical evidence
Johnson, V. E. (2013) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1313476110 · Cited by 808
Angular Differential Imaging: a Powerful High-Contrast Imaging Technique
Marois, C., Lafreniére, D., Doyon, R., Macintosh, B., & Nadeau, D. (2005) · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · Cited by 558
Self-citationLafreniére, D., Marois, C., Doyon, R., Nadeau, D., & Artigau, É. (2007) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/513180 · Cited by 479
Self-citationLafreniére, D., Marois, C., Doyon, R., Nadeau, D., & Artigau, É. (2007) · CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Cited by 448
Self-citationThe Four‐Quadrant Phase‐Mask Coronagraph. I. Principle
Rouan, D., Riaud, P., Boccaletti, A., Clénet, Y., & Labeyrie, A. (2000) · Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific · doi:10.1086/317707 · Cited by 377
Self-citationAnnular Groove Phase Mask Coronagraph
Mawet, D. P., Riaud, P., Absil, O., & Surdej, J. (2005) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/462409 · Cited by 362
Self-citationTheoretical Limits on Extrasolar Terrestrial Planet Detection with Coronagraphs
Guyon, O., Pluzhnik, E. A., Kuchner, M. J., Collins, B., & Ridgway, S. T. (2006) · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · doi:10.1086/507630 · Cited by 340
Stellar Coronograph with Phase Mask
Roddier, F. J., & Roddier, C. A. (1997) · Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific · doi:10.1086/133949 · Cited by 239
Phase-induced amplitude apodization of telescope pupils for extrasolar terrestrial planet imaging
Guyon, O. (2003) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20030457 · Cited by 223
Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization of Telescope Pupils for Extrasolar Terrestrial Planet Imaging
Guyon, O. (2003) · Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology) · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20030457/pdf · Cited by 210
High‐Contrast Imaging from Space: Speckle Nulling in a Low‐Aberration Regime
Borde, P. J., & Traub, W. A. (2006) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/498669 · Cited by 208
Broadband wavefront correction algorithm for high-contrast imaging systems
Give’on, A., Kern, B., Shaklan, S., Moody, D., & Pueyo, L. A. (2007) · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · doi:10.1117/12.733122 · Cited by 206
Self-citationAn image of an exoplanet separated by two diffraction beamwidths from a star
Serabyn, E., Mawet, D. P., & Burruss, R. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature09007 · Cited by 184
Self-citationWide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope-Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets WFIRST-AFTA Final ReportPreprint
Spergel, D., Gehrels, N., Breckinridge, J., Donahue, M., Dressler, A., Gaudi, B., Greene, T., Guyon, O., Hirata, C., Kalirai, J., et al. (2013) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1305.5422 · Cited by 163
Mawet, D. P., Pueyo, L. A., Lawson, P. R., Mugnier, L. M., Traub, W. A., Boccaletti, A., Trauger, J. T., Gładysz, S., Serabyn, E., Milli, J., et al. (2012) · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · doi:10.1117/12.927245 · Cited by 153
Self-citationHigh-Dynamic-Range Imaging Using a Deformable Mirror for Space Coronography
Malbet, F., Yu, J. W., & Shao, M. (1995) · Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific · doi:10.1086/133563 · Cited by 150
Stellar populations in the Galactic bulge
Vanhollebeke, E., Groenewegen, M. A. T., & Girardi, L. (2009) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/20078472 · Cited by 149
The Structure of High Strehl Ratio Point‐Spread Functions
Perrin, M. D., Sivaramakrishnan, A., Makidon, R. B., Oppenheimer, R., & Graham, J. R. (2003) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/377689 · Cited by 148
Macintosh, B., Graham, J., Palmer, D. M., Doyon, R., Gavel, D., Larkin, J., Oppenheimer, R., Saddlemyer, L. K., Wallace, J. K., Bauman, B. J., et al. (2006) · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · doi:10.1117/12.672430 · Cited by 143
Speckle Noise and Dynamic Range in Coronagraphic Images
Soummer, R., Ferrari, A., Aime, C. J., & Jolissaint, L. P. (2007) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/520913 · Cited by 139
RECONNAISSANCE OF THE HR 8799 EXOSOLAR SYSTEM. I. NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY
Oppenheimer, R., Baranec, C. J., Beichman, C., Brenner, D., Burruss, R., Cady, E., Crepp, J. R., Dekany, R., Fergus, R., Hale, D., et al. (2013) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/768/1/24 · Cited by 138
Self-citationCONFIRMATION OF THE PLANET AROUND HD 95086 BY DIRECT IMAGING
Rameau, J., Chauvin, G., Lagrange, A. ‐., Meshkat, T., Boccaletti, A., Quanz, S. P., Currie, T., Mawet, D. P., Girard, J. H., Bonnefoy, M., et al. (2013) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/779/2/l26 · Cited by 130
Self-citationTemporal Evolution of Coronagraphic Dynamic Range and Constraints on Companions to Vega
Hinkley, S., Oppenheimer, R., Soummer, R., Sivaramakrishnan, A., Roberts, L. C., Kuhn, J. R., Makidon, R. B., Perrin, M. D., Lloyd, J. P., Kratter, K. M., et al. (2006) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/509063 · Cited by 122
Quanz, S. P., Meyer, M. R., Kenworthy, M. A., Girard, J. H., Kasper, M. E., Lagrange, A. ‐., Apai, D., Boccaletti, A., Bonnefoy, M., Chauvin, G., et al. (2010) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/722/1/l49 · Cited by 117
Self-citationSingle‐Visit Photometric and Obscurational Completeness
Brown, R. A. (2005) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/429124 · Cited by 115
The Usefulness and Limits of Coronagraphy in the Presence of Pinned Speckles
Aime, C. J., & Soummer, R. (2004) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/424381 · Cited by 103
Searching for companions down to 2 AU fromβPictoris using theL′-band AGPM coronagraph on VLT/NACO
Absil, O., Milli, J., Mawet, D. P., Lagrange, A. ‐., Girard, J. H., Chauvin, G., Boccaletti, A., Delacroix, C., & Surdej, J. (2013) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322748 · Cited by 92
Self-citationConfidence Level and Sensitivity Limits in High‐Contrast Imaging
Marois, C., Lafreniére, D., Macintosh, B., & Doyon, R. (2008) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/523839 · Cited by 90
Self-citationRiaud, P., Mawet, D. P., Absil, O., Boccaletti, A., Baudoz, P., Herwats, E., & Surdej, J. (2006) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065232 · Cited by 79
Self-citationEPICS: direct imaging of exoplanets with the E-ELT
Kasper, M. E., Beuzit, J.-L., Vérinaud, C., Gratton, R., Kerber, F., Yaitskova, N., Boccaletti, A., Thatte, N., Schmid, H. M., Keller, C. U., et al. (2010) · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · doi:10.1117/12.856850 · Cited by 78
Self-citationSpeckle Statistics in Adaptively Corrected Images
Fitzgerald, M. P., & Graham, J. R. (2006) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/498339 · Cited by 76
L’-band AGPM vector vortex coronagraph’s first light on VLT/NACO
Mawet, D. P., Absil, O., Delacroix, C., Girard, J. H., Milli, J., O’Neal, J., Baudoz, P., Boccaletti, A., Bourget, P., Christiaens, V., et al. (2013) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201321315 · Cited by 70
Self-citationA Valid and Fast Spatial Bootstrap for Correlation Functions
Loh, J. M. (2008) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/588631 · Cited by 68
THE GEMINI NICI PLANET-FINDING CAMPAIGN: THE COMPANION DETECTION PIPELINE
Wahhaj, Z., Liu, M. C., Biller, B. A., Nielsen, E. L., Close, L. M., Hayward, T. L., Hartung, M., Chun, M., Ftaclas, C., & Toomey, D. W. (2013) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/779/1/80 · Cited by 68
Self-citationGuyon, O., Matsuo, T., & Angel, R. (2009) · Cited by 68
Guyon, O., Matsuo, T., & Angel, R. (2009) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/693/1/75 · Cited by 56
Confidence Level and Sensitivity Limits in High Contrast Imaging
Marois, C., Lafreniére, D., Macintosh, B., & Doyon, R. (2007) · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · Cited by 56
Self-citationTHE ACCRETION DISK AND IONIZED ABSORBER OF THE 9.7 hr DIPPING BLACK HOLE BINARY MAXI J1305–704
Shidatsu, M., Ueda, Y., Nakahira, S., Done, C., Morihana, K., Sugizaki, M., Mihara, T., Hori, T., Negoro, H., Kawai, N., et al. (2013) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/779/1/26 · Cited by 53
Speckle Statistics in Adaptively Corrected Images
Fitzgerald, M. P., & Graham, J. R. (2005) · CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Cited by 51
Morphology of the very inclined debris disk around HD 32297
Boccaletti, A., Augereau, J. ‐., Lagrange, A. ‐., Milli, J., Baudoz, P., Mawet, D. P., Mouillet, D., Lebreton, J., & Maire, A.-L. (2012) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219320 · Cited by 44
Self-citationA DIM CANDIDATE COMPANION TO ϵ CEPHEI
Mawet, D. P., Mennesson, B. P., Serabyn, E., Stapelfeldt, K. R., & Absil, O. (2011) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/738/1/l12 · Cited by 41
Self-citationMawet, D. P., Absil, O., Delacroix, C., et al. (2013) · CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1304.0930 · Cited by 41
Self-citationVery deep images of the innermost regions of theβPictoris debris disc atL′
Milli, J., Lagrange, A. ‐., Mawet, D. P., Absil, O., Augereau, J. ‐., Mouillet, D., Boccaletti, A., Girard, J. H., & Chauvin, G. (2014) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201323130 · Cited by 41
Self-citationFURTHER EVIDENCE OF THE PLANETARY NATURE OF HD 95086 b FROM GEMINI/NICI H -BAND DATA
Meshkat, T., Bailey, V. P., Rameau, J., Bonnefoy, M., Boccaletti, A., Mamajek, E. E., Kenworthy, M. A., Chauvin, G., Lagrange, A. ‐., Su, K. Y. L., et al. (2013) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/775/2/l40 · Cited by 41
Self-citationLinear and Bayesian Planet Detection Algorithms for theTerrestrial Planet Finder
Kasdin, N. J., & Braems, I. (2006) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/505017 · Cited by 37
CORONAGRAPHIC OBSERVATIONS OF FOMALHAUT AT SOLAR SYSTEM SCALES
Kenworthy, M. A., Meshkat, T., Quanz, S. P., Girard, J. H., Meyer, M. R., & Kasper, M. E. (2013) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/764/1/7 · Cited by 37
Self-citationThe Subaru coronagraphic extreme AO project: first observations
Martinache, F., Guyon, O., Clergeon, C., Garrel, V., & Blain, C. (2012) · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · doi:10.1117/12.927223 · Cited by 33
Application of the Hotelling and ideal observers to detection and localization of exoplanets
Caucci, L., Barrett, H. H., Devaney, N. M., & Rodrı́guez, J. J. (2007) · Journal of the Optical Society of America A · doi:10.1364/josaa.24.000b13 · Cited by 21
Serabyn, E., Mawet, D. P., Bloemhof, E. E., Haguenauer, P., Mennesson, B. P., Wallace, J. K., & Hickey, J. J. (2009) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/696/1/40 · Cited by 17
Self-citationLawson, P. R., Poyneer, L., Barrett, H. H., Frazin, R. A., Caucci, L., Devaney, N. M., Furenlid, L. R., Gładysz, S., Guyon, O., Krist, J., et al. (2012) · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · doi:10.1117/12.925099 · Cited by 15
Self-citationThe EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer (EXCEDE)
Guyon, O., Schneider, G., Belikov, R., & Tenerelli, D. J. (2012) · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · doi:10.1117/12.927188 · Cited by 15
Anomalous intensity of pinned speckles at high adaptive correction
Bloemhof, E. E. (2004) · Optics Letters · doi:10.1364/ol.29.000159 · Cited by 14
THE EFFECTS OF EPISODIC STAR FORMATION ON THE FUV-NUV COLORS OF STAR FORMING REGIONS IN OUTER DISKS
Barnes, K. L., van Zee, L., & Dowell, J. (2013) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/775/1/40 · Cited by 8
The Gemini Planet Imager: First Light
Macintosh, B., Graham, J. R., Ingraham, P., et al. (2014) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1403.7520 · Cited by 8
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Kasper, 2012, Msngr, 149, 17
- Kenworthy, 2010, Msngr, 141, 2
- Lange, 1989, J. Am. Stat. Assoc., 84, 881
- Mawet, 2011, OptL, 36, 1506
- Razali, 2012, J. Stat. Modeling Anal., 2, 21
Cited by
Sorted by citations
SPHERE: the exoplanet imager for the Very Large Telescope
Beuzit, J.-L., Vigan, A., Mouillet, D., Dohlen, K., Gratton, R., Boccaletti, A., Sauvage, J.-F., Schmid, H. M., Langlois, M., Petit, C., et al. (2019) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935251 · Cited by 712
Self-citationDiscovery and spectroscopy of the young jovian planet 51 Eri b with the Gemini Planet Imager
Macintosh, B., Graham, J., Barman, T., de Rosa, R. D., Konopacky, Q., Marley, M., Marois, C., Nielsen, E., Pueyo, L., Rajan, A., et al. (2015) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aac5891 · Cited by 495
Self-citationImaging Extrasolar Giant Planets
Bowler, B. P. (2016) · Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific · doi:10.1088/1538-3873/128/968/102001 · Cited by 450
Accreting protoplanets in the LkCa 15 transition disk
Sallum, S., Follette, K. B., Eisner, J. A., Close, L. M., Hinz, P. M., Kratter, K. M., Males, J. R., Skemer, A. J. I., Macintosh, B., Tuthill, P., et al. (2015) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature15761 · Cited by 299
Discovery and spectroscopy of the young jovian planet 51 Eri b with the Gemini Planet Imager
Macintosh, B., Graham, Jr., Barman, T., De Rosa, R., Konopacky, Q., Marley, M., Marois, C., Nielsen, E., Pueyo, L. A., Rajan, A., et al. (2015) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 292
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Mawet, D., Milli, J., Wahhaj, Z., Pelat, D., Absil, O., Delacroix, C., Boccaletti, A., Kasper, M., Kenworthy, M., Marois, C., Mennesson, B., & Pueyo, L.
- Affiliations
- European Southern Observatory (CL)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Liège (BE)
- European Southern Observatory (DE)
- Leiden University (NL)
- Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (CA)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2014-08-21
- Volume
- 792
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 97
- ISSN
- 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
- 1538-4357
- OpenAlex
- W2147778163
- Cited by
- 369
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 31 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 6
- FWCI
- 13.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Astrophysical Journal (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- NPARC (submittedVersion)
- ORBi (University of Liège) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- California Institute of Technology
- European Commission
- Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles
- European Southern Observatory
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Instrumentation › Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
- Keywords
- high-contrast imaging, small sample statistics, detection threshold, confidence level, false alarm probability, inner working angle, coronagraphy, exoplanet direct imaging, statistical limitations, contrast estimation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
