Restoration of interferometric images - I. The software package AIRY

The Software Package AIRY (Astronomical Image Restoration in interferometrY) described in this paper is designed for simulation and/or multiple deconvolution of interferometric images. It was conceived for applications to the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), but can also be used for future interferometers of the same class. AIRY is modular, IDL-based, and designed to be used together with the CAOS (Code for Adaptive Optics Systems) Application Builder. As concerns multiple deconvolution AIRY includes an implementation of the method OS-EM (Ordered Subsets-Expectation Maximization) which is an accelerated version of the Lucy-Richardson method. After a description of the structure and modules of the software package, its use is illustrated with a few applications. In particular the intrinsic performance of the implemented restoration method is explored in the case of binary stars of different angular separations and magnitude differences, as well as in the case of a diffuse object. The possibility of obtaining super-resolved images of unresolved binary stars is also demonstrated.