The EM imaging reconstruction method in γ-ray astronomy

Abstract The simpler imaging reconstruction methods used for γ-ray coded mask telescopes are based on correlation methods, very fast and simple-to-use but with limitations in the reconstructed image. To improve these results, other reconstruction methods have been developed, such as the maximum entropy methods or the Iterative Removal Of Sources (IROS). However, such kind of methods are slower and can be impracticable for very complex telescopes. In this paper we present an alternative image reconstruction method, based on an iterative maximum likelihood algorithm called the EM algorithm, easy to implement and that can be successfully used for not very complex coded mask systems, as is the …