Departmental Seminar

Inchoate ideas for optical interferometry in space

Dr Rob Ward

Interferometric imaging has a long history in astronomy, beginning with Fizeau, and Michelson operated the first optical interferometer.   In 2017, the GRACE Follow-on mission will launch, and will include a laser ranging interferometer with the first demonstration of an interferometric laser ranging measurement between two satellites with nanometre precision.   This could open the way to optical interferometry in space.  I will give a brief overview, from an outsider's perspective, of optical interferometry, and end by introducing an idea for a  relatively low cost, high resolution, space based imaging system.  

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