POINTS: the instrument and its mission

Robert D. Reasenberg; Robert W. Babcock; Marc A. Murison; Martin Charles Noecker; James D. Phillips; Bonny L. Schumaker

doi:10.1117/12.212991

26 June 1995 POINTS: the instrument and its mission

Robert D. Reasenberg, Robert W. Babcock, Marc A. Murison, Martin Charles Noecker, James D. Phillips, Bonny L. Schumaker

Proceedings Volume 2477, Spaceborne Interferometry II; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.212991
Event: SPIE's 1995 Symposium on OE/Aerospace Sensing and Dual Use Photonics, 1995, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

POINTS comprises a pair of independent Michelson stellar interferometers and a laser metrology system that measures both the critical starlight paths and the angle between the two baselines. The nominal design has baselines of 2 m, subapertures of 35 cm, and a single- measurement accuracy of 5 microarcseconds for targets separated by approximately equals 90 degree(s). In a five-year mission, POINTS could yield, e.g., a 1% Cepheid distance scale, galactic mass distribution, knowledge of cluster dynamics, and stellar masses and luminosities. In a ten-year mission, POINTS could perform a deep search for other planetary systems, using only 20% of the available observing time. POINTS does global astrometry, i.e., it measures widely separated targets, which yields closure calibration, numerous bright reference stars, and absolute parallax. The instrument has only three moving-part mechanisms, and only one of these must move with sub-milliradian accuracy. On each side of the interferometer, there are only three (interferometrically critical) optical surfaces preceding the beamsplitter or its fold flat. POINTS is small, agile, and mechanically simple. It would prove much of the technology for future imaging interferometers.

Citation Download Citation

Robert D. Reasenberg, Robert W. Babcock, Marc A. Murison, Martin Charles Noecker, James D. Phillips, and Bonny L. Schumaker "POINTS: the instrument and its mission", Proc. SPIE 2477, Spaceborne Interferometry II, (26 June 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.212991

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