The key CGI technology demonstration goals are to detect new planets in the optical, to characterize the atmosphere of known planets detected through other indirect methods (i.e., radial velocity), and to determine the characteristics of exoplanetary disks (debris, protoplanetary, and exo-zodiacal). The details of the CGI core science campaign are still in development, thus the description below includes general science goals and may be updated. 

I. Detecting new planets:

With its 360 degree field-of-view coverage and very close inner working angle, the Hybrid Lyot Coronagraph (HLC) may be used for discovering new planets in the optical. There are several optical bandpasses available with the HLC, which will have differing uses depending on the planetary system.

II. Characterizing known planets:

The Shaped Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (SPC) will have an integral field spectrograph (IFS) which can be used for spectral characterization of imaged exoplanet atmospheres. Imaging and characterizing planets detected through other techniques, such as radial velocity, is one of the goals of the CGI, as these planets are known and confirmed through other methods. No radial velocity planet has ever been imaged. Imaging these planets will reveal their projected separation on the sky and combined with radial velocity constraints, the physical separation from its star. In addition, observing these planets in the IFS allows low resolution characterization of their atmospheres.

III. Exoplanetary disks:

The gas and dust around stars sheds light on the environment where a planet formed around a star. The HLC and SPC in disk mode will be capable of imaging extended disk structures in several bandpasses and polarization channels. These disks range in composition, mass, size, and age, thus providing a wide range of information about the birth places of planets and how they interact within their environments.