Numerical simulation of the signal and data processing of the HIPPARCOS satellite.

This paper presents a theoretical study of the diffraction pattern which will be obtained with the telescope launched aboard the HIPPARCOS satellite. The output signal is studied by simulating observations of various stars of different spectral types and classes. In the case of very faint stars, the signal will consist of only a few photons during a sampling interval, so that a statistical recovery of the signal will be needed. A simulation of such a signal is described. The last part of this paper deals with the data processing.