Optical Synthesis Imaging

David Buscher (University of Cambridge)

Abstract:

This talk is about how to make useful astronomical images with a ground-based interferometer. I will assume some familiarity with the principles of interferometric measurements, as discussed by Andy Boden in the 1999 Michelson Summer school, and will develop these ideas with the aim of understanding the practical issues involved in making model-independent images from optical interferometric data. Topics to be discussed include the closure phase and how it is best measured in practice, and image reconstruction techniques appropriate for long-baseline interferometers.

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References:

• Elementary theory of interferometry
  A.F. Boden
  in "Principles of Long Baseline Stellar Interferometry". Michelson Summer School Proceedings (1999).

• Image formation by self-calibration in radio astronomy
  T.J. Pearson and A.C.S. Readhead
  Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys 22, 97-130 (1984).

• Determination of closure phase in noisy conditions
  G. Woan and P.J. Duffett-Smith
  Astron. Astrophys. 198, 375 (1988).