Jitter Correction Algorithms for the COROT Satellite Mission: Validation with Test Bench Data and MOST On-Orbit Photometry

Abstract

We demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of photometric correction algorithms for satellite pointing jitter in the upcoming space mission COROT, which will study asteroseismology and search for exoplanets. Two algorithms based on model-based estimation and decorrelation are tested in two ways: (1) with artificial light sources in the COROT CCD test bench, and (2) with on-orbit photometry from the Canadian MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars) satellite. Both algorithms effectively correct for pointing jitter to yield the expected results based on the inputs. The test with MOST data on a multiperiodic pulsating star demonstrates that the model-based estimation method recovers the oscillation signals better, while the decorrelation technique is more reliable if a poor model of the point-spread function is applied to the data. Therefore, the two algorithms complement one another and should both be applied to COROT photometry.