When
Where
Title
Stray Light in Space Optical Instruments: The Next Frontiers
Abstract
In the quest to develop ever-more advanced space telescopes, stray light (SL) increasingly emerges as a primary limiting factor. Stray light, which arises from ghost reflections and scattering, degrades image quality by reducing resolution and introducing artifacts. This is especially problematic for telescopes tasked with observing faint objects or small variations in their intensity. It hides valuable information and adds false information. SL must be controlled by design and characterized experimentally prior to launch. However, we have reached the limits of the conventional methods. This talk will address this problem and the many challenges that it involves, from design to testing, not forgetting post-processing. In particular, we will present the case of the Earth observation instrument 3MI where conventional methods were pushed to their utmost limits. Finally, we will discuss the development of a novel approach, the Time-of-Flight (ToF) characterization.
Bio
Lionel Clermont is a senior Optical Engineer at the Space Center of Liège and the Deputy Director of the STAR Institute. He is an expert in space optical instrumentation, with contribution to Earth observation missions such as Metop-3MI, or scientific missions such as PLATO. Among his recent works, he has pioneered the development of the Time-of-Flight approach for Stray light characterization, for which he received the SPIE Early Career Achievement Award.