System and Method for Detection, Characterization, and Imaging of a Stellar Occultation

A method of detecting, characterizing and imaging a near-Earth celestial object comprising:

• collecting intensity time history data by at least one light collecting aperture positioned to observe a star;
• detecting a stellar occultation event;
• recording said intensity time history data;
• processing said intensity time history data;
• predicting at least one of a set of object characteristics;
• and
• imaging said near-Earth celestial object.

A method of imaging a near-Earth celestial object comprising:

• collecting light intensity data as a function of time of a stellar occultation event;
• processing said light intensity data as a function of time to generate a shadow function;
• applying a phase retrieval algorithm to said shadow function to generate an unresolved image;
• applying a silhouette function to said unresolved image.