Synthetic astronomical image sequence generation

Astronomical image reconstruction from multiple observations requires detailed knowledge of the imaging system. The reconstruction accuracy is determined by the imaging model correctness. Numerous parameters determine the model, and their precise estimation is a precondition for successful reconstruction. The best way to measure the model sensitivity on the parameter accuracy is a detailed simulation of the whole imaging process that takes into account all of the model parameters. The simulation enables an artificial manipulation of these parameters to reach the required accuracy. This paper describes a novel approach to generate a synthetic astronomical image sequence from the chosen star catalogs. Synthesis assumes point sources extracted from the catalogs and described through their angular position and magnitude in different spectral bands. The model parameters shall be tuned to the actual raw image captured by the SLR camera and chosen lens. The sequence of synthetic images of approximately the same part of the sky, but slightly shifted, is generated. The small shifts result that the light field integrates into different spatially displaced sampling grids, thus facilitating high-resolution image reconstruction from spatially subsampled projections.