Astrophysics (Index)About

aperture synthesis

(synthesis imaging)
(interferometry to simulate a larger aperture telescope)

Aperture synthesis (synthesis imaging) is a method of using an interferometer incorporating an array of telescopes, to produce an image with the angular resolution like that provided by a single aperture as wide as the array's baseline length. The method is used in optical, infrared, microwave, and radio astronomy. The term synthetic aperture telescope (SAT) refers to a telescope-array set up to do this, the term most often used when the telescopes are optical.

Any interferometer array of two ore more telescopes (e.g., multiple radio-telescope dishes) is intended to produce the high angular resolution associated with their baselines, and it would seem the term aperture synthesis applies to any of them. But I suspect the term is often meant specifically to indicate post-calculations that generate an image. Phase data can be used in such calculations, and sometimes it is said that aperture syntheses requires it. However, I've seen reference to aperture syntheses without phase data and I presume methods of image-production without phase data exist but are inferior.


(measurement,EMR,optics,interferometry)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture_synthesis
http://dictionary.obspm.fr/index.php?formSearchTextfield=aperture+synthesis&showAll=1
https://www.astro.rug.nl/~mcct-skads/lecture_deBruyn.pdf
https://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/Astr_518/interferometry1.pdf
http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March12/Middelberg/Middelberg2.html
https://waf.eps.hw.ac.uk/resources/aperturesynthesis_background.html

Referenced by pages:
2D Fourier transform
baseline
CHARA
COAST
collecting area
convolution
DSA-2000
Earth rotation synthesis
Fast Fourier Transform Telescope
Fourth Cambridge Catalog of Radio Sources (4C)
intensity interferometer
interferometer
Long Wavelength Array (LWA)
Low-frequency Array (LOFAR)
MRO Interferometer (MROI)
optical interferometer
pulsar timing array (PTA)
Queen's University Radio Observatory (QRO)
Radio Camera Initiative (RCI)
software telescope
u-v plane
visibility

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