DIGITAL IMAGE PROFILERS FOR DETECTING FAINT SOURCES WHICH HAVE BRIGHT COMPANIONS.

AN IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM IS PROPOSED WHICH OFFERS THE POTENTIAL FOR DETECTING EXTREMELY FAINT OPTICAL SOURCES WHICH ARE LOCATED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO BRIGHT COMPANION SOURCES. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH A SPACEBASED ONE METER TELESCOPE, THE PROPOSED SYSTEM SHOULD PERMITTHE DETECTION OF 14TH, 17TH, AND 18TH MAGNITUDE STELLAR OBJECTS HAVING ANGULAR DISPLACEMENTS FROM A 4TH MAGNITUDE OBJECT OF 0.05, 0.25, AND 0.5 ARC SECONDS, RESPECTIVELY. THE APPROACH IS NOVEL IN FOUR RESPECTS. FIRST, IT DOES NOT REQUIRE AN OPTICAL SYSTEM WHEREIN EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES MUST BE TAKEN TO MINIMIZE DIFFRACTION AND SCATTER. SECOND, IT DOES NOT REQUIRE DETECTORS POSSESSING EITHER EXTREME UNIFORMITY IN SENSITIVITY OR EXTREME TEMPORAL STABILITY. THIRD, THE SYSTEM CAN READILY BE CALIBRATED, OR NULLED, IN SPACE BY TESTING AGAINST AN UNRESOLVED SINGULAR STELLAR SOURCE. FINALLY, AND PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT, THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEM SHOULD APPROACH THE THEORETICAL LIMIT IMPOSED BY PHOTON STATISTICS. THE SCOPE OF THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM INCLUDES THE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND TESTING OF A SINGLE CHANNEL BREADBOARD IMAGE PROFILER. PHASE I ALSO WOULD INCLUDE THE ANALYSIS AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A MULTICHANNEL BRASSBOARDSYSTEM TO BE CONSTRUCTED DURING PHASE II.