Comparison of ELTs, interferometers and hypertelescopes for deep field imaging and coronagraphy

We compare the science potential of ELTs, interferometers and hypertelescopes having the same collecting area. Hypertelescopes with hundreds or thousands of small apertures overcome the ‘field crowding’ problem which interferometers have for aperture synthesis with few apertures. They also improve the signal/noise ratio as N 7 / 4 if N is the number of apertures. With a modified laser guide star scheme, currently being explored, they become, in principle, suitable for observing deep fields of remote galaxies, with a limiting magnitude identical to an ELT, and with higher resolution. Before initiating major ground-based projects, the comparison of these architectures should be studied in more detail, for the various observing targets and science cases. To cite this article: A. Labeyrie, C. R. Physique 8 (2007).