Indian scientist develops low-cost high-resolution satellite telescope
| Date :22-Oct-2019 |
By Shakoor Rather :
NEW DELHI,
The novel telescope system -- consisting of nanosatellites the size of milk cartons -- can lead to low-cost, high-resolution images in space.
AN Indian researcher in Israel has designed a novel telescope system -- consisting of nanosatellites the size of milk cartons -- that can lead to low-cost, high-resolution images taken by cameras in space. The resolution of imaging by space and Earth-based telescopes is often limited by the finite aperture of the optical systems.
The new technology could revolutionise the economics and imagery available from space-based cameras and even Earth-based telescopes, said Angika Bulbul, a PhD candidate at Ben-Gurion University (BGU). “This is an invention that completely changes the costs of space exploration, astronomy, aerial photography, and more,” said Bulbul, who hails from Bhagalpur in Bihar. “Our system is only 0.5 per cent of the total area of existing telescopic system, using advance technique,” she told PTI. The research, published in the journal Optica, demonstrates that nanosatellites the size of milk cartons arranged in a spherical configuration were able to capture images that match the resolution of the full-frame, lens-based or concave mirror systems used on today’s telescopes.
“Several previous assumptions about long-range photography were incorrect,” said Bulbul, who worked under the supervision of Professor Joseph Rosen in BGU Department of Computer Engineering. “We found that you only need a small part of a telescope lens to obtain quality images. Even by using the perimeter aperture of a lens, as low as 0.43 per cent, we managed to obtain similar image resolution compared to the full aperture area of mirror or lens-based imaging systems,” said Bulbul, an alumna of NIT Calicut, and IIT Delhi.