Probing Photon Statistics in Adaptive Optics Images with SCExAO/MEC*

We present an experimental study of photon statistics for high-contrast imaging with the Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector (MKID) Exoplanet Camera (MEC) located behind Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics System (SCExAO) at Telescope. show that MEC measures expected distributions both on-axis companion intensity and off-axis which manifests as quasi-static speckles in image plane currently limits performance. These can be probed by any observation due to photon-counting capabilities MKID detectors. Photon arrival time also used directly distinguish companions from using a post-processing technique called Stochastic Speckle Discrimination (SSD). Here, we give overview SSD highlight first demonstration on extended source -- protoplanetary disk AB Aurigae. then simulations provide in-depth exploration current limitations extension Photon-Counting (PCSSD) path forward transitioning PCSSD on-sky results. end discussion how further improve efficacy such based techniques applicable MKIDs, well other high speed astronomical cameras.