35 research outputs found
High resolution imaging at large telescopes
Image recovery at a resolution limited only by diffraction is now possible at large telescopes. The theory of speckle image reconstruction is explained and the current status of a video recording and digitization system for the reconstruction procedure is described. Potential applications of the process when used with very large telescopes are discussed. The constraints on telescope design imposed by these techniques are listed
Calibrating the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation with the VLTI
The VLTI is the ideal instrument for measuring the distances of nearby
Cepheids with the Baade-Wesselink method, allowing an accurate recalibration of
the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation. The high accuracy required by such
measurement, however, can only be reached taking into account the effects of
limb darkening, and its dependence on the Cepheid pulsations. We present here
our new method to compute phase- and wavelength-dependent limb darkening
profiles, based on hydrodynamic simulation of Classical Cepheid atmospheres.Comment: 3 pages, 2 postscript figures, uses eas.cls LaTeX class file, to
appear in the proc. Eurowinter School "Observing with the VLTI", Feb 3-8
2002, Les Houches (France
Detection of Earth-like Planets Using Apodized Telescopes
The mission of NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) is to find Earth-like
planets orbiting other stars and characterize the atmospheres of these planets
using spectroscopy. Because of the enormous brightness ratio between the star
and the reflected light from the planet, techniques must be found to reduce the
brightness of the star. The current favorite approach to doing this is with
interferometry: interfering the light from two or more separated telescopes
with a phase shift, nulling out the starlight. While this technique can,
in principle, achieve the required dynamic range, building a space
interferometer that has the necessary characteristics poses immense technical
difficulties. In this paper, we suggest a much simpler approach to achieving
the required dynamic range. By simply adjusting the transmissive shape of a
telescope aperture, the intensity in large regions around the stellar image can
be reduced nearly to zero. This approach could lead to construction of a TPF
using conventional technologies, requiring space optics on a much smaller scale
than the current TPF approach.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, 9 pages, 6 figure
SMART precision interferometry at 794 nm
Single-mode fibers have been used in the near-infrared to dramatically reduce calibration error for long-baseline interferometry. We have begun an effort to apply the advantages of spatial filtering at visible wavelengths for precision measurements of pulsating Cepheids using the IOTA interferometer. Rather than employing photometric taps to calibrate fluctuating coupling efficiency, we are using an "asymmetric" coupler which allows this calibration to be done without losing photons. The Single-Mode Asymmetric Recombination Technique (SMART) experiment has finished lab-testing, and has been installed at IOTA for full commissioning in Summer 2002. We report the results of lab characterization and first sky tests, as well as first fringes on a star using a visible-wavelength single-mode coupler. With both lab and sky experience using unpolarized light, we have found that circular silica fibers are quite practical for precision interferometric measurements. We conclude that circular fibers (as opposed to polarization maintaining fibers) have an undeserved poor reputation and that birefringence effects pose no significant difficulty
Third telescope project at the IOTA interferometer
The third telescope project to enable phase-closure observations at the IOTA interferometer is well underway, and is anticipated to be completed later this year. For this project, we present the main technical improvements which we have already made or expect to make, including a new VxWorks control system, improved star acquisition cameras, improved siderostat and primary mirror supports, five-axis control of the telescope secondary mirrors, automated control of the long delay line, trihedral retroreflectors, three-beam combination, the PICNIC camera, and fringe packet tracking
Modern optical astronomy: technology and impact of interferometry
The present `state of the art' and the path to future progress in high
spatial resolution imaging interferometry is reviewed. The review begins with a
treatment of the fundamentals of stellar optical interferometry, the origin,
properties, optical effects of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere, the
passive methods that are applied on a single telescope to overcome atmospheric
image degradation such as speckle interferometry, and various other techniques.
These topics include differential speckle interferometry, speckle spectroscopy
and polarimetry, phase diversity, wavefront shearing interferometry,
phase-closure methods, dark speckle imaging, as well as the limitations imposed
by the detectors on the performance of speckle imaging. A brief account is
given of the technological innovation of adaptive-optics (AO) to compensate
such atmospheric effects on the image in real time. A major advancement
involves the transition from single-aperture to the dilute-aperture
interferometry using multiple telescopes. Therefore, the review deals with
recent developments involving ground-based, and space-based optical arrays.
Emphasis is placed on the problems specific to delay-lines, beam recombination,
polarization, dispersion, fringe-tracking, bootstrapping, coherencing and
cophasing, and recovery of the visibility functions. The role of AO in
enhancing visibilities is also discussed. The applications of interferometry,
such as imaging, astrometry, and nulling are described. The mathematical
intricacies of the various `post-detection' image-processing techniques are
examined critically. The review concludes with a discussion of the
astrophysical importance and the perspectives of interferometry.Comment: 65 pages LaTeX file including 23 figures. Reviews of Modern Physics,
2002, to appear in April issu