Comparison of blind imaging performance of Fizeau and Michelson type arrays for a partially resolved object

Comparison of blind imaging performance of Fizeau and Michelson type arrays for a partially resolved object

Van der Avoort, C.
Den Herder, J.W.
Braat, J.

Applied Sciences

Imaging Science and Technology

2005-08-31

This paper compares two well-known types of interferometer arrays for optical aperture synthesis. An analytical model for both types describes the expected output, in terms of photon counts. The goal is to characterize the performance of both types of array for blind imaging of a wide-field or extended object that would be partially resolved by a single elementary aperture. The spectrum of the source is assumed to be constant over the source and in time, but broad-banded. The light levels are such that only a few photons per pixel or bin are received. The simulated interferometer responses are discussed. The process of reconstructing the source from the ‘recorded’ responses is presented, but not discussed in this paper. It turns out that both types of interferometer are capable of imaging a partially resolved source with high spatial frequencies present all over the source.

interferometry
homothenic mapping
wide-field imaging
aperture synthesis

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:48cc617a-5771-4d64-b4aa-1915ac84084f

SPIE

0277-786X

Proceedings of SPIE, 2005 vol. 5905

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c)2005 Van der Avoort, C., Den Herder, J.-W., Braat, J.