Nulling interferometry with three telescopes: triple beam-combiners, virtual telescope arrays, and phased arrays

Eugene Serabyn

doi:10.1117/12.552208

20 October 2004 Nulling interferometry with three telescopes: triple beam-combiners, virtual telescope arrays, and phased arrays

Eugene Serabyn

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5491, New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552208
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

Suppression of starlight by nulling interferometry has the potential to enable the direct detection of planets around nearby stars, and several interferometer configurations have been proposed which meet, to varying degrees, the numerous associated experimental goals, such as high sensitivity, high angular resolution, high stellar rejection, and extraneous signal rejection. However, the more capable approaches involve fairly complex systems, so that minimization of complexity is vital if a space-based nulling interferometry mission is to become a reality. The simplest case, the two-aperture nulling interferometer, possesses fairly limited capabilities, but most other configurations being considered for nulling interferometry missions involve four or more apertures. Another relatively simple case which has not received much attention to date is that of the three-aperture nulling interferometer. In this paper, the three-telescope case is discussed in detail, from the necessary triple-beam nulling beamcombiners, to the properties of the pupil plane configurations. It is concluded that three-telescope nullers share many of the desirable capabilities of four-telescope nullers, such as a phase modulation capability, and so in fact represent a very capable "simplest case" nulling interferometer configuration.

Citation Download Citation

Eugene Serabyn "Nulling interferometry with three telescopes: triple beam-combiners, virtual telescope arrays, and phased arrays", Proc. SPIE 5491, New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry, (20 October 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552208

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available