pyEDITH: the coronagraphic exposure time calculator for the Habitable Worlds Observatory

Abstract

To support the development of next-generation missions for the search and characterization of habitable planets, high-fidelity tools for astrophysical and instrumental noise simulations are needed. In this paper, we introduce pyEDITH, the Python-based coronagraphic exposure time calculator built for the next recommended NASA flagship mission, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), tasked with searching for signs of habitability and life in dozens of nearby exoplanet systems. pyEDITH is designed to simulate wavelength-dependent exposure times and signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) for synthetic HWO direct imaging observations, considering realistic engineering specifications and user-defined target information. Its modular architecture ensures flexibility as mission requirements evolve. pyEDITH enables a streamlined integration with modern astronomical workflows and was designed to be used by the scientific community at all skill levels for understanding the capabilities and limitations of different HWO architectures for exoplanet analyses. The code has been validated against existing exposure time calculators and released open-source on GitHub and Zenodo, as well as made accessible through a Graphical User Interface. The pyEDITH package includes API documentation, tutorial notebooks, and has been used in forthcoming scientific publications.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{alei2026pyedith,
  title = {{pyEDITH: the coronagraphic exposure time calculator for the Habitable Worlds Observatory}},
  author = {Eleonora Alei and Miles H. Currie and Corey Spohn and Christopher C. Stark and Aki Roberge and Avi M. Mandell and Enrico Biancalani and Samantha Gilbert-Janizek and Jacob Lustig-Yaeger and Sarah Steiger},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.28477},
  eprint = {2608.28477},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28477},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - pyEDITH: the coronagraphic exposure time calculator for the Habitable Worlds Observatory
AU  - Eleonora Alei
AU  - Miles H. Currie
AU  - Corey Spohn
AU  - Christopher C. Stark
AU  - Aki Roberge
AU  - Avi M. Mandell
AU  - Enrico Biancalani
AU  - Samantha Gilbert-Janizek
AU  - Jacob Lustig-Yaeger
AU  - Sarah Steiger
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/28
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.28477
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28477
AB  - To support the development of next-generation missions for the search and characterization of habitable planets, high-fidelity tools for astrophysical and instrumental noise simulations are needed. In this paper, we introduce pyEDITH, the Python-based coronagraphic exposure time calculator built for the next recommended NASA flagship mission, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), tasked with searching for signs of habitability and life in dozens of nearby exoplanet systems. pyEDITH is designed to simulate wavelength-dependent exposure times and signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) for synthetic HWO direct imaging observations, considering realistic engineering specifications and user-defined target information. Its modular architecture ensures flexibility as mission requirements evolve. pyEDITH enables a streamlined integration with modern astronomical workflows and was designed to be used by the scientific community at all skill levels for understanding the capabilities and limitations of different HWO architectures for exoplanet analyses. The code has been validated against existing exposure time calculators and released open-source on GitHub and Zenodo, as well as made accessible through a Graphical User Interface. The pyEDITH package includes API documentation, tutorial notebooks, and has been used in forthcoming scientific publications.
ER  -

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