E.J. Bakker (Magdalena Ridge Observatory and New Mexico Tech), D.A. Klinglesmith (Magdalena Ridge Observatory and New Mexico Tech), A.M. Jorgensen (New Mexico Tech), D. Westpfahl (Magdalena Ridge Observatory and New Mexico Tech), V. Romero (Magdalena Ridge Observatory and New Mexico Tech), C. Cormier (Magdalena Ridge Observatory and New Mexico Tech)
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Abstract:
The emerging field of optical interferometery will enable imaging of geo-stationary satellites at a height of 36,000 meter with a resolution of less than 1 meter. The current generation of optical interferometers has baselines up to 300 meters, which is a factor 100 larger than a 3 meter single dish telescope. Since the spatial resolution scales with wavelength over lambda, the increase in baseline translates directly in an increase in resolving power to see smaller details.
The Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI) will be a 10 element optical interferometer. Each telescope will have a 1.4 meter primary mirror and the maximum distance within the array is close to 400 meters. MROI is currently under construction in the heart of New Mexico and is designed to meet a dual purpose: provide imaging capabilities for space situational awareness, and to provide science capabilities to astronomers. This paper is specifically aimed to demonstrate the capabilities of MROI for imaging geostationary satellites.
We have performed simulations of the performance of MROI to image geostationary satellites. These simulations start with a real image of a satellite and a model which uses simple geometric shapes to best represent the real image. This model is fed to a simulator that takes into account the interferometer array configuration and computes the observables using estimates of the errors in the observations and due to the intervening atmosphere. For an imaging interferometer these are the visibilities and closures phases for each available baseline. Finally we use exiting imaging reconstruction algorithms to compute a reconstructed image.
To complete the paper with present a discussion on the limitations of these simulations and optical interferometry in general, but will also point to specific issues of interest to the community that these simulations have identified.
A separate paper will be presented by the MRO program office that provides an overview of the status of the MRO project.
Date of Conference: September 1-4. 2009
Track: