Astrophysical Instrumentation

This EU presents astrophysics instruments and the signal processing tools associated with their operation.

The focus is on instruments with high angular resolution and high contrast (interferometry, adaptive optics, coronography, etc.).

In addition, this EU introduces the basics of digital signal processing and presents a general methodology, based on modeling instrumental effects, for image reconstruction or optimal use of measurements.

This EU aims to explain the operating principles of a number of instruments used in astrophysics.

This understanding is necessary in order to evaluate the performance but also the limitations of existing instruments.

This course provides the methodological foundations for instrumental design and digital signal and image processing.

Recommended prerequisites:

Sensors, Image Processing

Fundamentals of Computer Science

Modeling and Simulation in Physics

Basic elements of optics (wave and geometric)

Terminal Control

• Signal processing
  • Modeling instrumental effects
  • Statistics of random signals
  • Approach to inverse problems
  • Constrained optimization
  • Maximum likelihood estimators / maximum a posteriori estimators
  • Reconstruction issues
  • Detection issues
• Astrophysical instrumentation
  • Image formation and angular resolution
  • Telescopes
  • Optical design
  • Optical aberrations
  • Atmospheric turbulence
  • Adaptive optics
  • High-contrast imaging
  • Stellar interferometry
  • Polarimetry
  • Instrumentation for the direct detection of exoplanets