The 2016 Interferometric Imaging Beauty Contest

摘要

Image reconstruction in optical interferometry has gained considerable importance for astrophysical studies during the last decade. This has been mainly due to improvements in the imaging capabilities of existing interferometers and the expectation of new facilities in the coming years. However, despite the advances made so far, image synthesis in optical interferometry is still an open field of research. Since 2004, the community has organized a biennial contest to formally test the different methods and algorithms for image reconstruction. In 2016, we celebrated the 7th edition of the "Interferometric Imaging Beauty Contest". This initiative represented an open call to participate in the reconstruction of a selected set of simulated targets with a wavelength-dependent morphology as they could be observed by the 2nd generation of VLTI instruments. This contest represents a unique opportunity to benchmark, in a systematic way, the current advances and limitations in the field, as well as to discuss possible future approaches. In this contribution, we summarize: (a) the rules of the 2016 contest; (b) the different data sets used and the selection procedure; (c) the methods and results obtained by each one of the participants; and (d) the metric used to select the best reconstructed images. Finally, we named Karl-Heinz Hofmann and the group of the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie as winners of this edition of the contest.