Abstract

Interferometric image reconstruction with long base-line telescope arrays requires both a good u,v plane coverage and a good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This implies a redundant configuration of telescopes with adaptive wavefront corrections. We propose to build an experimental array of small movable telescopes with adaptive tilt compensation to be used in the red and near IR. Fiber optics is considered as a way to combine all the beams together. The array will be easy to expand and reconfigure providing a test bench for future earth-based and space interferometers. Two possible schemes are considered for beam recombination. In one scheme the output pupil is nonredundant and linear in one direction with spectral dispersion in the orthogonal direction. In the other scheme the output pupil is a scaled version of the input pupil. Theoretical SNR is computed in both cases assuming either photon noise or additive noise. The first scheme is shown to give the highest SNR for bright sources whereas the second scheme gives the highest SNR for faint sources. Fiber optics allow flexible beam recombination.

© 1986 Optical Society of America