System of reflective telescope baffles

The use of absorbing baffles for blocking scattered light in space-borne telescopes raises a major problem. The absorbed stray light becomes heat, which in the space environment cannot be dissipated by air convection. This is particularly important for those telescopes operating in the infrared, because the warm baffles will reradiate at those wavelengths. The conventional solution to this problem is the use of cryogenic cooling. We present here an alternative system of reflective baffles that reflect back out of the entrance aperture a preponderance of the stray light. Some criteria are also presented that will aid in the location and the distribution of the individual vanes.