First demonstration of super-resolution with a single-dish radio telescope

First demonstration of super-resolution with a single-dish radio telescope | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article First demonstration of super-resolution with a single-dish radio telescope LUCA OLMI, Carlo Migoni, Matteo Murgia, Renzo Nesti, Sergio Poppi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6470624/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In this paper we report the first successful demonstration of angular super-resolution (SR) obtained with a filled-aperture radio telescopeobserving in the K-band of the electro-magnetic (EM) spectrum. In conventional optical imaging systems the spatial resolution is basically limited by the wavelength of the EM radiation and the finite numerical aperture of the optical system. In this context,the concept of SR refers to various methods for improving the angular resolution of an optical imaging system (with a single entrance pupil) beyond the classical diffraction limit. The increased resolving power of single-dish telescopes through SR would make full use of their intrinsic fast scanning capabilities, as compared to interferometers. Despite the potential scientific applications, few efforts have been devoted to the development of SR imaging techniques for Astronomy. In recent years, some complex and ambitious techniques have been proposed to achieve SR with astronomical telescopes, but none of thesetechniques has gone beyond the stage of basic principles or can be used as a real SR imaging method. Variable-transmittance pupils represent one viable approach to achieving SR in radio astronomy. In 1952 Toraldo di Francia suggested that the classical limit of optical resolution could be improved interposing a filter consisting of finite-width concentric annuli of different amplitude and phase transmittance at the entrance (or exit) pupil of an optical system, now also known as Toraldo Pupils (TPs). In this paper we show thatby exploiting the active surface of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) to emulate a TP at the entrance pupil of the telescope it was possibleto achieve a main beam narrower than the nominal far-field pattern expected by diffraction. We have also used the SR beam to map an astronomical source and we show that we are able to recover some of the compact structurenot visible using the nominal diffraction-limited telescope beam. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science Physical sciences/Physics Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6470624","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":452114107,"identity":"018f6766-042d-4e35-814d-bdbe49682f2b","order_by":0,"name":"LUCA OLMI","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAv0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPghlwcDG3tjAwGDDwENQCxuEkmBg4zkI1JLGwENQD1wLg0QCA0gLYWvYJJIffmCokIjmk3zc9uBHAoOMPWEtacYSDGckctukE9sNexKIcZhEDoMEYxtYS5sE7w/itDD/AGuRPNgm+YdIW9ggtgBJaR6itPA8M7NIAPmFJ7FNWiZBgofnAAEt/OzJj298qLDJnd9+/JnkmwQbe/YGQtaAQAKCKUGM+lEwCkbBKBgFhAAAnfwux+S0VOYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"National Institute for Astrophysics","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"LUCA","middleName":"","lastName":"OLMI","suffix":""},{"id":452114108,"identity":"5c15483a-4335-4292-b1aa-4b5080f51108","order_by":1,"name":"Carlo Migoni","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Institute for Astrophysics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carlo","middleName":"","lastName":"Migoni","suffix":""},{"id":452114109,"identity":"df4c971e-3709-49d1-b0b6-b20bcbfe6c63","order_by":2,"name":"Matteo Murgia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Institute for Astrophysics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Matteo","middleName":"","lastName":"Murgia","suffix":""},{"id":452114110,"identity":"d4aa1eda-c0d9-43d1-9bb0-b8bb8268bacd","order_by":3,"name":"Renzo Nesti","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Institute for Astrophysics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Renzo","middleName":"","lastName":"Nesti","suffix":""},{"id":452114111,"identity":"fa8d4b13-e759-4cc7-a5ee-aeb700d8ac6f","order_by":4,"name":"Sergio Poppi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Institute for Astrophysics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sergio","middleName":"","lastName":"Poppi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-17 10:08:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6470624/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6470624/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":83749382,"identity":"1d1e2e36-abaf-4271-8d53-2e2ef523d480","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-02 06:17:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1533638,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SciRepSRTv2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6470624/v1_covered_bb673e49-2644-49db-b5e5-ac219869bc38.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"First demonstration of super-resolution with a single-dish radio telescope","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6470624/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6470624/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"In this paper we report the first successful demonstration of angular super-resolution (SR) obtained with a filled-aperture radio telescopeobserving in the K-band of the electro-magnetic (EM) spectrum. In conventional optical imaging systems the spatial resolution is basically limited by the wavelength of the EM radiation and the finite numerical aperture of the optical system. In this context,the concept of SR refers to various methods for improving the angular resolution of an optical imaging system (with a single entrance pupil) beyond the classical diffraction limit. The increased resolving power of single-dish telescopes through SR would make full use of their intrinsic fast scanning capabilities, as compared to interferometers. Despite the potential scientific applications, few efforts have been devoted to the development of SR imaging techniques for Astronomy. In recent years, some complex and ambitious techniques have been proposed to achieve SR with astronomical telescopes, but none of thesetechniques has gone beyond the stage of basic principles or can be used as a real SR imaging method. Variable-transmittance pupils represent one viable approach to achieving SR in radio astronomy. In 1952 Toraldo di Francia suggested that the classical limit of optical resolution could be improved interposing a filter consisting of finite-width concentric annuli of different amplitude and phase transmittance at the entrance (or exit) pupil of an optical system, now also known as Toraldo Pupils (TPs). In this paper we show thatby exploiting the active surface of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) to emulate a TP at the entrance pupil of the telescope it was possibleto achieve a main beam narrower than the nominal far-field pattern expected by diffraction. We have also used the SR beam to map an astronomical source and we show that we are able to recover some of the compact structurenot visible using the nominal diffraction-limited telescope beam.","manuscriptTitle":"First demonstration of super-resolution with a single-dish radio telescope","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-05-07 05:42:46","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6470624/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"89bbaeb6-d646-4bf1-855a-d78bdc44273f","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 7th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":48082527,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science"},{"id":48082528,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-06-02T06:08:39+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-05-07 05:42:46","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6470624","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6470624","identity":"rs-6470624","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}