Point spread function: Difference between revisions

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In [[observational astronomy]], the experimental determination of a PSF is often very straightforward due to the ample supply of point sources ([[star]]s or [[quasars]]). The form and source of the PSF may vary widely depending on the instrument and the context in which it is used.
 
For [[radio telescopes]] and [[Diffraction-limited system|diffraction-limited]] space [[telescopes]], the dominant terms in the PSF may be inferred from the configuration of the aperture in the [[Fourier ___domain]]. In practice, there may be multiple terms contributed by the various components in a complex optical system. A complete description of the PSF will also include diffusion of light (or photo-electrons) in the detector, as well as [[AttitudeSpacecraft attitude control|tracking]] errors in the spacecraft or telescope.
 
For ground-based optical telescopes, atmospheric turbulence (known as [[astronomical seeing]]) dominates the contribution to the PSF. In high-resolution ground-based imaging, the PSF is often found to vary with position in the image (an effect called anisoplanatism). In ground-based [[adaptive optics]] systems, the PSF is a combination of the aperture of the system with residual uncorrected atmospheric terms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.telescope-optics.net/diffraction_image.htm|title=POINT SPREAD FUNCTION (PSF)|website=www.telescope-optics.net|access-date=2017-12-30}}</ref>