Abstract
We propose the construction of a large multiple-mirror interferometer in space. For example, at λ ~ 100 nm and with a baseline of 20 m, a resolution of 0.001 sec of arc can be obtained. At short UV wavelengths a multiple-mirror interferometer will produce speckle interferograms caused by aberrations and deformations of the interferometer. From the speckle interferograms true diffraction-limited images can be reconstructed by various speckle methods. The speckle-masking method (triple correlation) is attractive since it yields true images with high signal-to-noise ratio. The limiting magnitude of interferometry in space is about 24. We will show digital simulations of image reconstruction from multiple-mirror interferometer data. Photon noise corresponding to a mean photon count number of 10 counts per pixel was simulated.
© 1986 Optical Society of America
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