Station-Keeping Requirements for Constellations of Free-Flying Collectors Used for Astronomical Imaging in Space

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the station-keeping accuracy needed for space-based interferometric arrays used in astrophysics, focusing on baseline and optical path difference requirements for precise astronomical imaging.

Contribution

It provides specific accuracy rules-of-thumb for station-keeping in space interferometers, linking them to imaging parameters and constellation geometry.

Findings

Baseline knowledge accuracy is about half a meter for typical stellar targets.

Optical path difference control must be within half a wavelength for narrow bands.

Broader bandwidths require optical path difference control within approximately 0.2 wavelengths.

Abstract

The accuracy requirements on station-keeping for constellations of free-flying collectors coupled as (future) imaging arrays in space for astrophysics applications are examined. The basic imaging element of these arrays is the two-element interferometer. Accurate knowledge of two quantities is required: the \textit{projected baseline length}, which is the distance between the two interferometer elements projected on the plane tranverse to the line of sight to the target; and the \textit{optical path difference}, which is the difference in the distances from that transverse plane to the beam combiner. ``Rules-of-thumb'' are determined for the typical accuracy required on these parameters. The requirement on the projected baseline length is a \textit{knowledge} requirement and depends on the angular size of the targets of interest; it is generally at a level of half a meter for typical stellar targets, decreasing to perhaps a few centimeters only for the widest attainable fields of view. The requirement on the optical path difference is a \textit{control} requirement and is much tighter, depending on the bandwidth of the signal; it is at a level of half a wavelength for narrow (few %) signal bands, decreasing to $\approx 0.2 \lambda$ for the broadest bandwidths expected to be useful. Translation of these requirements into engineering requirements on station-keeping accuracy depends on the specific details of the collector constellation geometry. Several examples are provided to guide future application of the criteria presented here. Some implications for the design of such collector constellations and for the methods used to transform the information acquired into images are discussed.