Related papers: Characterizing the Adaptive Optics Off-Axis Point-…
We build on a long-standing tradition in astronomical adaptive optics (AO) of specifying performance metrics and error budgets using linear systems modeling in the spatial-frequency domain. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive tool for…
Uncertainty in the wide-angle Point Spread Function (PSF) at large angles (tens of arcseconds and beyond) is one of the dominant sources of error in a number of important quantities in observational astronomy. Examples include the stellar…
In a previous work we have demonstrated a novel numerical model for the point spread function (PSF) of an optical system that can efficiently model both experimental measurements and lens design simulations of the PSF. The novelty lies in…
The first step toward doing high-precision astrometry is the measurement of individual stars in individual images, a step that is fraught with dangers when the images are undersampled. The key to avoiding systematic positional error in…
A critical analysis and comparison of different methods for obtaining point spread function (PSF) photometry are carried out. Deep ACS observations of NGC3370 were reduced using four distinct approaches. These reductions explore a number of…
We describe the time- and position-dependent point spread function (PSF) variation of the Wide Field Channel (WFC) of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) with the principal component analysis (PCA) technique. The time-dependent change is…
The Chinese Space Station Survey Telescope (CSST) presents significant potential for high-precision astrometry. In this study, we show that the point spread function (PSF) modeled by the discrete PSF with Multi-Gaussian function can…
Context. The knowledge of the point-spread function compensated by adaptive optics is of prime importance in several image restoration techniques such as deconvolution and astrometric/photometric algorithms. Wavefront-related data from the…
We present the last results of our PSF reconstruction (PSF-R) project for the Keck-II and Gemini-North AO systems in natural guide star mode. Our initial tests have shown that the most critical aspects of PSF-R are the determination of the…
We describe results from the first astronomical adaptive optics system to use multiple laser guide stars, located at the 6.5-m MMT telescope in Arizona. Its initial operational mode, ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO), provides uniform…
The effects of photon noise, aliasing, wavefront chromaticity and scintillation on the point spread function (PSF) contrast achievable with ground based adaptive optics (AO) are evaluated for different wavefront sensing schemes. I show that…
Adaptive optics (AO) are reconfigurable devices that compensate for wavefront distortions or aberrations in optical systems such as microscopes, telescopes and ophthalmoscopes. Aberrations have detrimental effects that can reduce imaging…
Simulated images are essential in algorithm development and instrument testing for optical telescopes. During real observations, images obtained by optical telescopes are affected by spatially variable point spread functions (PSFs), a…
Accurate modelling of the effective point spread function (ePSF) is essential for high-precision photometry and astrometry, particularly in undersampled imaging regimes. In this work, we build on a well-established ePSF modelling framework…
Galaxy imaging surveys observe a vast number of objects that are affected by the instrument's Point Spread Function (PSF). Weak lensing missions, in particular, aim at measuring the shape of galaxies, and PSF effects represent an important…
The Portable Adaptive Optics (PAO) is a low-cost and compact system, designed for 4-meter class telescopes that have no Adaptive Optics (AO), because of the physical space limitation at the Nasmyth or Cassegrain focus and the historically…
As we enter the era of TESS and JWST, instrumentation that can carry out radial velocity measurements of exoplanet systems is in high demand. We will address this demand by upgrading the UC Lick Observatory's 2.4-meter Automated Planet…
The WHT is unusually well-placed for exploitation of adaptive-optics (AO) technology. The site seeing is excellent (median 0.7 arcsec), dome seeing is negligible, and preliminary studies indicate that most of the atmospheric seeing…
We introduce a novel framework for upsampled Point Spread Function (PSF) modeling using pixel-level Bayesian inference. Accurate PSF characterization is critical for precision measurements in many fields including: weak lensing, astrometry,…
Both lucky imaging techniques and adaptive optics require natural guide stars, limiting sky coverage, even when laser guide stars are used. Lucky imaging techniques become less successful on larger telescopes unless adaptive optics is used,…