Related papers: Formation-flying interferometry in geocentric orbi…
The quest for other habitable worlds and the search for life among them are major goals of modern astronomy. One way to make progress towards these goals is to obtain high-quality spectra of a large number of exoplanets over a broad range…
Small satellite systems enable whole new class of missions for navigation, communications, remote sensing and scientific research for both civilian and military purposes. As individual spacecraft are limited by the size, mass and power…
Cosmology with large interferometric telescopes is a rich and largely unexplored subject, involving three types of measurement: astrometric measurement of absolute distances and proper motions, dispersions of relative proper motions, and…
This paper examines options for orbit configurations for a space interferometer. In contrast to previously presented concepts for space very long baseline interferometry, we propose a combination of regular and retrograde near-Earth…
Accurate modeling of astrophysical jets is critical for understanding accretion systems and their impact on the interstellar medium. While astronomical observations can validate models, they have limitations. Controlled laboratory…
Interferometry is a powerful technique for making sensitive, high-fidelity images of the sky, but is limited in its ability to measure extended or diffuse emission. Better images of extended astronomical objects can be obtained by…
The Virtual Telescope for X-Ray Observations (VTXO) is an Astrophysics SmallSat mission being developed to demonstrate 10-milliarcsecond X-ray imaging using a Phase Fresnel Lense (PFL) based space telescope. PFLs promise to provide several…
Circumstellar disks around young stars are the birthsites of planets. It is thus fundamental to study the disks in which they form, their structure and the physical conditions therein. The first astronomical unit is of great interest…
High-Frequency (HF) radar is well suited to the surveillance of low-Earth-orbit space. For large targets, a small deployable HF radar is able to match the detection performance of much larger space surveillance radar systems operating at…
Optical interferometry has dramatically advanced the development of modern science and technology. Here we introduce an interesting centroid evolution phenomenon of orbital angular momentum (OAM) interference fields with broken rotational…
The motivation to build spaceborne interferometric arrays for low-frequency radio astronomy is widely recognised because frequencies below the ionospheric cutoff are inaccessible for ground-based radio telescopes. We discuss the theoretical…
This chapter discusses the use and possibilities of optical and infrared interferometry to study star formation. The chapter starts with a brief overview of the star formation process and highlights the open questions from an observational…
We propose SILVIA (Space Interferometer Laboratory Voyaging towards Innovative Applications), a mission concept designed to demonstrate ultra-precision formation flying between three spacecraft separated by 100 m. SILVIA aims to achieve…
The basic principle of astronomical interferometry is to derive the angular distribution of radiation in the sky from the Fourier transform of the electric field on the ground. What is so special about the Fourier transform? Nothing, it…
To determine the parameters (masses, orbital period) of a binary, one requires among others the inclination, which is best determined from a visual orbit. The next generation of interferometers can provide visual orbits for a large number…
The techniques of laser cooling combined with atom interferometry make possible the realization of very sensitive and accurate inertial sensors like gyroscopes or accelerometers. Besides earth-based developments, the use of these techniques…
We analyze the trajectories of three geostationary satellites forming the GEOstationary GRAvitational Wave Interferometer (GEOGRAWI)~\cite{tinto}, a space-based laser interferometer mission aiming to detect and study gravitational radiation…
Given a set of astrometric observations of the same object, the problem of orbit determination is to compute the orbit and to assess its uncertainty and reliability. For the next generation surveys, with much larger number density of…
The closest examples of high-mass star birth occurs in deeply embedded environments at kiloparsec distances. Although much progress has been made, an observationally validated picture of the dominant processes which allows the central…
Drones provide a versatile platform for remote sensing and atmospheric studies. However, strict payload mass limits and intense vibrations have proven obstacles to adoption for astronomy. We present a concept for system-level testing of a…