Well the pointing of any telescope has to be rather good, otherwise one would not be able to integrate for very long, because otherwise the image would be smeared due to the movements of the telescope. (this is controlled by a so called guide camera that locks on nearby guide stars for which the position is very accurately determined)
If i remember correctly they not only move the telescope but also rotate the ccd with a 45 degree angle with respect to the first image, which gives the best result..
The algorithm that does this is called "Drizzle" and is now a very standard technica. (students down the hall here are doing it right now at the Leiden Observatory here:) )
I think i have heard something about a new ccd, but i'm not at all sure how soon that would be..
The first light (fringes) of the VLTI can be found here:
http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2001/pr -0 6-01.html
(I actually spend 2 months programming one of the microcontrollers on the carriage you can see on one of the images)
The resampling of works for the HST because the resolution of the camera is UNDERsampling the signal coming from it's mirror.. That is the HST could see sharper if it would have a higher resolution CCD camera.. the trick now is to take 2 images with one picture shifted HALF a pixel with respect to the other, thereby creating an image with twice the resolution. Regarding optical interferometry: I'm working on that:)) commisioning of the VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) is currently in progress, and i will go observing sometime next month:)
Slashdot Mirror
Great, yes 150mas i think..
Grtz
Bjorn
Well the pointing of any telescope has to be rather good, otherwise one would not be able to integrate for very long, because otherwise the image would be smeared due to the movements of the telescope. (this is controlled by a so called guide camera that locks on nearby guide stars for which the position is very accurately determined)
:) )
r -0 6-01.html
If i remember correctly they not only move the telescope but also rotate the ccd with a 45 degree angle with respect to the first image, which gives the best result..
The algorithm that does this is called "Drizzle" and is now a very standard technica. (students down the hall here are doing it right now at the Leiden Observatory here
I think i have heard something about a new ccd, but i'm not at all sure how soon that would be..
The first light (fringes) of the VLTI can be found here:
http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2001/p
(I actually spend 2 months programming one of the microcontrollers on the carriage you can see on one of the images)
Grtz
Bjorn
The resampling of works for the HST because the resolution of the camera is UNDERsampling the signal coming from it's mirror.. That is the HST could see sharper if it would have a higher resolution CCD camera.. the trick now is to take 2 images with one picture shifted HALF a pixel with respect to the other, thereby creating an image with twice the resolution. Regarding optical interferometry: I'm working on that :)) commisioning of the VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) is currently in progress, and i will go observing sometime next month :)
Bjorn Heijligers
http://www.heijligers.com