Coherent Optical System Of Modular Imaging Collectors (COSMIC) Telescope Array: Astronomical Goals And Preliminary Image Reconstruction Results

Wesley A. Traub; Warren F. Davis

doi:10.1117/12.933517

4 November 1982 Coherent Optical System Of Modular Imaging Collectors (COSMIC) Telescope Array: Astronomical Goals And Preliminary Image Reconstruction Results

Wesley A. Traub, Warren F. Davis

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 0332, Advanced Technology Optical Telescopes I; (1982) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.933517
Event: 1982 Astronomy Conferences, 1982, Tucson, United States

Abstract

We are developing numerical methods of image reconstruction which can be used to produce very high angular resolution images at optical wavelengths of astronomical objects from an orbiting array of telescopes. The engineering design concept for COSMIC (coherent optical system of nodular imaging collectors) is currently being developed at Marshall S.F.C., and includes four to six telescope modules arranged in a linear array. Each telescope has a 1.8 meter aperture, and the total length of the array is about 14 meters. This configuration, when controlled to fractional wavelength tolerances, will yield a diffraction pattern with an elongated central lobe about 4 milli-arc-sec wide and 34 milli-arc-sec long, at a wavelength of 0.3 microns, and correspondingly larger at longer wavelengths. The goal of image reconstruction is to combine many images taken at various aspect angles in such a way as to reconstruct the field of view with 4 milli-arc-sec angular resolution in all directions. We are developing a Fourier transform method for extracting from each individual image the maximum amount of information, and then combining these results in an appropriately weighted fashion to yield an optimum estimate of the original scene. The mathematical model is discussed, and the results of preliminary numerical simulations of data are presented.

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Wesley A. Traub and Warren F. Davis "Coherent Optical System Of Modular Imaging Collectors (COSMIC) Telescope Array: Astronomical Goals And Preliminary Image Reconstruction Results", Proc. SPIE 0332, Advanced Technology Optical Telescopes I, (4 November 1982); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.933517

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