An optical system designed for image processing

Abstract In some cases it is possible to radically modify the character of an optical system to make it highly compatible with image processing. One such case is discussed in this paper. A large-aperture optical system may be operated as a multi-element interferometer such that a posteriori image processing can yield images that are free from the usual distortions of atmospheric “seeing”. Most significantly, the image corrections can be accomplished without any knowledge of the point-spread function of the atmosphere.