Related papers: Enabling concepts for a dual spacecraft formation-…
The capability of maintaining two satellites in precise relative position, stable in a celestial coordinate system, would enable major advances in a number of scientific disciplines and with a variety of types of instrumentation. The common…
We present a feasibility study exploring the implementation of optical interferometry and speckle techniques with the 1.3-m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope (DFOT) at ARIES, which is currently dedicated to photometric observations. Using…
Space interferometry is the inevitable endpoint of high angular resolution astrophysics, and a key technology that can be leveraged to analyse exoplanet formation and atmospheres with exceptional detail. However, the anticipated cost of…
The employment of a large area Phase Fresnel Lens (PFL) in a gamma-ray telescope offers the potential to image astrophysical phenomena with micro-arcsecond angular resolution. In order to assess the feasibility of this concept, two detailed…
Integrated-optic, astronomical, two-beam and three-beam, interferometric combiners have been designed and fabricated for operation in the L band (3 - 4 microns) for the first time. The devices have been realized in titanium-indiffused,…
We present the concept for STARI: STarlight Acquisition and Reflection toward Interferometry. If launched, STARI will be the first mission to control a 3-D CubeSat formation to the few mm-level, reflect starlight over 10s to 100s of meters…
Nulling interferometry is a technique providing high angular resolution which is the core of the space missions Darwin and the Terrestrail Planet Finder. The first objective is to reach a deep degree of starlight cancelation in the range 6…
We report first white-light interferograms obtained with an integrated optics beam combiner on a glass plate. These results demonstrate the feasability of single-mode interferometric beam combination with integrated optics technology…
Infrared space interferometers can surpass the spatial resolution limitations of single-dish space telescopes. However, stellar interferometers from space have not been realized because of technical difficulties. Two beams coming from…
One key advantage of single-mode photonic technologies for interferometric use is their ability to easily scale to an ever increasing number of inputs without a major increase in the overall device size, compared to traditional bulk optics.…
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…
We propose a new instrumental concept for long-baseline optical single-mode interferometry using integrated optics which were developed for telecommunication. Visible and infrared multi-aperture interferometry requires many optical…
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…
We have designed and constructed a second-generation version of the Dispersed Fourier Transform Spectrograph, or dFTS. This instrument combines a spectral interferometer with a dispersive spectrograph to provide high-accuracy,…
FIREBall-2 is a stratospheric balloon-borne 1-m telescope coupled to a UV multi-object slit spectrograph designed to map the faint UV emission surrounding z~0.7 galaxies and quasars through their Lyman-alpha line emission. This…
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…
In the past few years, there has been a resurgence in studies towards space-based optical/infrared interferometry, particularly with the vision to use the technique to discover and characterise temperate Earth-like exoplanets around solar…
Observations at mas-resolution scales and high dynamic range hold a central place in achieving, for instance, the spectroscopic characterization of exo-Earths or the detailed mapping of their protoplanetary disc birthplace. Ground or…
The ultimate astronomical observatory would be a formation flying interferometer in space, immune to atmospheric turbulence and absorption, free from atmospheric and telescope thermal emission, and reconfigurable to adjust baselines…
The Fizeau Interferometer Testbed (FIT) is a collaborative effort between NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the Naval Research Laboratory, Sigma Space Corporation, and the University of Maryland. The testbed will be used to explore the…