A Deconvolution Technique for Hubble Space Telescope FGS Fringe Analysis

Abstract

A technique has been developed for directly transforming interferometer fringe visibility functions (``S-curves") from the HST Fine Guidance Sensors (FGSs) into intensity profiles of the program object. In a process analogous to Fourier transform image deconvolution, an S-curve from a double star yields a pair of narrow profiles containing information on the separation (in one coordinate), and relative brightness of the two stars. The procedure has yielded high internal precision for the separation and relative brightness in tests with HST data. Simulations indicate that it can also deconvolve S-curves from multiple stars or continuous intensity distributions such as resolvable stellar or extra-galactic objects. Similar deconvolution analyses may be useful in other types of interferometry. (SECTION: Instrumentation and Data Analysis)