<title>Novel image-reconstruction method applied to deep Hubble space telescope images</title>

Abstract

We have developed a method for the linear reconstruction of an image from\nundersampled, dithered data, which has been used to create the distributed,\ncombined Hubble Deep Field images -- the deepest optical images yet taken of\nthe universe. The algorithm, known as Variable-Pixel Linear Reconstruction (or\ninformally as "drizzling"), preserves photometry and resolution, can weight\ninput images according to the statistical significance of each pixel, and\nremoves the effects of geometric distortion both on image shape and photometry.\nIn this paper, the algorithm and its implementation are described, and\nmeasurements of the photometric accuracy and image fidelity are presented. In\naddition, we describe the use of drizzling to combine dithered images in the\npresence of cosmic rays.\n