Imaging Techniques in Millimetre Astronomy

Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimétrique (IRAM), 300 rue de la Piscine, 38406 Saint-Martin-d’Hères, France

Abstract

Compared to optical astronomy, millimetre radio astronomy experiences not only a different and complementary aspect of the universe but also different perturbations and limitations from Earth’s atmosphere that are mostly imposed by atmospheric water vapour and its dynamics. After discussing the physics behind the refractive index variations and possible correction schemes, a small introduction into the basics of radio interferometry and image reconstruction with the CLEAN algorithm is given.