Editing Aperture masking interferometry (section)

{{citation style|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
[[Image:Speckle aperture masking.svg|thumb|400px|a) shows a simple experiment using an aperture mask in a re-imaged aperture plane. b) and c) show diagrams of aperture masks which were placed in front of the [[secondary mirror]] of the [[Keck telescope]] by [[Peter Tuthill (astronomer)|Peter Tuthill]] and collaborators. The solid black shapes represent the subapertures (holes in the mask). A projection of the layout of the [[Keck Telescope|Keck]] primary mirror segments is overlaid.]]

'''Aperture masking interferometry''' (or Sparse aperture masking) is a form of [[speckle interferometry]], that allows [[diffraction limited]] imaging from ground-based [[telescopes]] (like the [[W. M. Keck Observatory|Keck Telescope]] and the [[Very Large Telescope]]), and is a high contrast imaging mode on the [[James Webb Space Telescope]]. This technique allows ground-based telescopes to reach the maximum possible resolution, allowing ground-based telescopes with large diameters to produce far greater resolution than the [[Hubble Space Telescope]]. A mask is placed over the telescope which only allows light through a small number of holes. This array of holes acts as a miniature [[astronomical interferometer]]. The principal limitation of the technique is that it is applicable only to relatively bright astronomical objects, since the mask discards most of the light received from the astronomical source. The method was developed by [[John E. Baldwin]] and collaborators in the [[Cavendish Astrophysics Group]] at the [[University of Cambridge]] in the late 1980s.