Simulating aperture masking at the Large Binocular Telescope

Julian Stürmer; Andreas Quirrenbach

doi:10.1117/12.926270

12 September 2012 Simulating aperture masking at the Large Binocular Telescope

Julian Stürmer, Andreas Quirrenbach

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8445, Optical and Infrared Interferometry III; 84452H (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926270
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

Preliminary investigations for an Aperture Masking Experiment at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) and its application to stellar surface imaging are presented. An algorithm is implemented which generates non redundant aperture masks for the LBT. These masks are adapted to the special geometrical conditions at the LBT. At the same time, they are optimized to provide a uniform UV-coverage. It is also possible to favor certain baselines to adapt the UV-coverage to observational requirements. The optimization is done by selecting appropriate masks among a large number (order 10⁹) of randomized realizations of non-redundant (NR) masks. Using results of numerical simulations of the surface of red supergiants, interferometric data is generated as it would be available with these masks at the LBT while observing Betelgeuse. An image reconstruction algorithm is used to reconstruct images from Squared Visibility and Closure Phase data. It is shown that a number of about 15 holes per mask is sufficient to retrieve detailed images. Additionally, noise is added to the data in order to simulate the influence of measurement errors e.g. photon noise. Both the position and the shape of surface structures are hardly influenced by this noise. However, the flux of these details changes significantly.

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Julian Stürmer and Andreas Quirrenbach "Simulating aperture masking at the Large Binocular Telescope", Proc. SPIE 8445, Optical and Infrared Interferometry III, 84452H (12 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926270

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