Investigation of varying telescope array spacing for shadow imaging reconstruction from partial diffraction patterns

Shadow imaging is an established astronomical observation technique that reconstructs silhouettes of distant space objects (like asteroids) from the object's diffraction pattern, which is present in the shadow of the object as the object passes between the observer and a star. The application of this technique as a low-cost method to obtain fine-resolution silhouette images of satellites in the geosynchronous belt using a linear array of commercial off-the-shelf telescopes is referred to as synthetic-aperture silhouette imaging (SASI). This research shows that a SASI array may be constructed with up to three aperture diameter spaces between telescopes, where each space is the same size as the telescopes while maintaining sub-meter resolution. Similarly, a SASI array made up of 25% of telescopes spaced intermittently may achieve similar sub-meter resolution. This research informs the design trade-offs for an operational array.