[ATM] Quirky idea

[saundby at foothill.net (Mark Graybill)]

So what you're suggesting is that you want to build an optical interferometer 
out of Quickcams?

To make interferometry a bit easier on yourself you may want to start at radio 
frequncies with some old big dish TV antennas. Once you've cut your teeth on 
interferometry with that, you'll see the practical issues with doing 
interferometry at optical wavelength, I expect.

-Mark G.


On Tuesday 03 February 2004 08:24 pm, Grey Coyote wrote:
> Dal, Dale, Dale....
>
> Put on your dream cap dude. Fire up the imagination
> and consider the possibilities...
>
> A single ccd chip is several times more sensitive than
> the human eye. The trick is getting an array of them
> to work together as one unit in a refractor, not a
> reflector...... I'm thinking a reflector would not
> work as well. Magnification is still focal length /
> aperature. I'm thinking the reflected light would
> cause issues with an array of chips. Not sure why yet.
>
>
> Now take that sensitivity and multiply it by 2, or 4
> or 8. What level of magnitude would be visible under
> such circumstances? I'm thinking 13 to 15 easy. here
> in the city the best I can do is around 9 usually
> 7ish.
>
> I know there's observatories that do this already. I'm
> just curious as to whether or not someone has
> attempted this at the amateur level. I'm really not
> wanting to reinvent the wheel.
>
> If you think this won't work, come up with a solid
> reason why not.
>
> Dream on
> -R
>
> --- Dale Eason <atmpob@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Here is something that is a lot cheaper than a bunch
> > of CCD chips and will work just at well.
> >
> > Try putting several sheets of white paper in an
> > array
> > side by side down on the ground at night.  Report
> > back
> > to us on the results.
> >
> >
> > Dale Eason
>
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