Multiple-Aperture Optical Systems

Multiple-aperture optics have certainly come a long way since the Michelson interferometer. Yet Michelson's impressive optical interferometry experiment at Mount Wilson laid a solid foundation for applications to follow. Imaginations of optical scientists were opened to new opportunities presented by multiple-aperture optical configurations. Long baseline and ultralarge effective aperture optical systems were now a possibility for high resolution astronomy and imaging. Dilute apertures in trigued clever thinkers such as Golay. Synthetic apertures at infrared and optical wavelengths became a serious topic of research and development.