Coronagraph throughput ($T(\theta )$)

For a specified photodetector measurement, coronagraph throughput $T(\theta )$ is the fraction of a source's light transmitted into that measurement at angular separation $\theta$ from the blocked source, relative to a stated reference configuration. Total transmitted power and power inside a small image opening can give different fractions; one must specify which is used. Throughput usually depends on wavelength and separation. A lower stellar residual is useful only in relation to the retained companion signal and noise. Guyon's worked designs plot transmitted off-axis light against separation to expose that tradeoff. ^[ref].