Simulating dilute-aperture imaging: The Stellar Imager
Abstract
A number of proposed space missions for high resolution imaging at wavelengths ranging from IR to UV call for ``dilute-aperture'' Fizeau-mode interferometers. We present here details of a software tool developed for high fidelity simulations of images obtained with such instruments. We show simulated images from the Stellar Imager, a mission concept being developed by NASA's GSFC to obtain high-resolution images of nearby stars in UV-optical wavelengths. Using the simulator, we study the capability of the proposed SI design to image stellar surfaces. We use the simulator to explore parameters of image quality such as resolution and dynamic range, and to evaluate proposed designs and the feasibility of science goals.
- Publication:
-
Interferometry in Space
- Pub Date:
- February 2003
- DOI:
- 10.1117/12.460718
- Bibcode:
- 2003SPIE.4852..652R