Summary

Power Spectral Analysis could be an important tool for detecting and measuring a range of high spatial resolution features in HST images. It is particularly useful for the detection of close binaries, stellar asymmetries, and object diameters. Precise fitting to power spectra allows extraction of information and scales small compared to the sampling limit or even the telescope diffraction limit. Extraction of sub-regions of images would allow its use even for complicated objects like globular clusters. We have applied the technique to the analysis of gravitationally lensed QSOs and shown that some important scientific results can be obtained with it. A number of other scientific projects for which it would be useful include tracking the expanding nebula in SN1987a, detection of close binaries in globular clusters, and search for asymmetries in giant and supergiant stars.

Acknowledgments

This work was carried out with partial support from NASA grant NAGW-3577.