Exoplanet detection with the SCAO mode of MAORY-MICADO: preliminary results from end-to-end simulations

The SCAO mode of MAORY-MICADO provides us with a very intriguing opportunity as for detection and characterization of extrasolar planets. Deep observations of the innermost regions (below 100 mas) of nearby stars will be possible thanks to the unprecedented resolution of the E-ELT. In this article, we present the results of a simulation campaign aimed at investigating the instrument performances in terms of exoplanet detectability. For this purpose, we developed an end-to-end simulator in IDL language. We simulated the AO correction as expected from the SCAO system using the end-to-end platform COMPASS. We also included the contribution of NCPA, whose dynamical evolution has been modeled on the instrument rotation. Optical aberrations are propagated through the foreseen MICADO coronagraphs, following the Fraunhofer propagation scheme. A sequence of image is generated, in order to apply post-processing algorithms to derive the corresponding detection limits. We applied this study to some benchmark exoplanetary systems and compared the expected performances with those of current 8-meter high-contrast imagers. Our goal is to investigate which kind of contribution MAORYMICADO can offer to the science of extrasolar planets.