Related papers: Starshade formation flying I: optical sensing
The gravitational fields of astrophysical bodies bend the light around them, creating multiple paths along which light from a distant source can arrive at Earth. Measuring the difference in photon arrival time along these different paths…
High contrast imaging searches for exoplanets have been conducted on 2.4-10 m telescopes, typically at H band (1.6 microns) and used exposure times of ~1 hr to search for planets with semi-major axes of > ~10 AU. We are beginning to plan…
Optical entanglement is a key requirement for many quantum communication protocols. Conventionally entanglement is formed between two distinct beams, with the quantum correlations being measured at separate locations. We show entanglement…
A standard method to study the mass distribution in galaxy clusters is through strong lensing of background galaxies in which the positions of multiple images of the same source constrain the surface mass distribution of the cluster.…
Significant advances in the discovery and characterization of the planetary systems of nearby stars can be accomplished with a moderate aperture high performance coronagraphic space mission that could be started in the next decade. Its…
Pupil-mapping is a technique whereby a uniformly-illuminated input pupil, such as from starlight, can be mapped into a non-uniformly illuminated exit pupil, such that the image formed from this pupil will have suppressed sidelobes, many…
The accuracy requirements on station-keeping for constellations of free-flying collectors coupled as (future) imaging arrays in space for astrophysics applications are examined. The basic imaging element of these arrays is the two-element…
In this draft photometry and astrometry is presented from the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO). This spacecraft orbits the second Lagrangian point (L2) of the Sun -- Earth system, yielding a mean distance of a million miles (~ 1.5 million…
Light curves of microlensing events involving stellar binaries and planetary systems can provide information about the orbital elements of the system due to orbital modulations of the caustic structure. Accurately measuring the orbit in…
Microlensing is sensitive to binary, brown dwarf, and planetary companions to normal stars in the Galactic bulge with separations between about 1-10 AU. The accurate, densely-sampled photometry of microlensing events needed to detect…
We have been carrying out a program for over five years to observe transits of selected exoplanets with 1-meter Turkish Telescope, T100 (Ba\c{s}t\"urk et al. 2014, 2015), by making use of the well-established defocusing technique…
Modelling is essential for studies that quantify the impact from satellite downlinks on radio astronomy sites. To estimate this impact it is necessary to know not only the position and velocity of satellites but also their behaviour in the…
This study evaluates the accuracy of three different types of time-of-flight sensors to measure distance. We envision the possible use of these sensors to localize swarms of flying light specks (FLSs) to illuminate objects and avatars of a…
Weak gravitational lensing can cause displacements, magnification, rotation and shearing of the images of distant galaxies. Most studies focus on the shear and magnification effects since they are more easily observed. In this paper we…
Maintaining optical alignment between stations of a free-space optical link requires a persistent beam tracking operation. This is achieved using a position-sensitive photodetector at each station which measures the azimuth and elevation of…
Several mission concepts are being studied to directly image planets around nearby stars. It is commonly thought that directly imaging a potentially habitable exoplanet around a Sun-like star requires space telescopes with apertures of at…
Spacecraft formation flying serves as a method of astronomical instrumentation that enables the construction of large virtual structures in space. The formation-flying interferometry generally requires very-high control accuracy, and…
Saccades are extremely rapid movements of both eyes that occur simultaneously, typically observed when an individual shifts their focus from one object to another. These movements are among the swiftest produced by humans and possess the…
In the theory of structure formation, galaxies are biased tracers of the underlying matter density field. The statistical relation between galaxy and matter density field is commonly referred as galaxy bias. In this paper, we test the…
While building up a catalog of Earth orbiting objects, if the available optical observations are sparse, not deliberate follow ups of specific objects, no orbit determination is possible without previous correlation of observations obtained…