Disclosed are systems and methods for synthesizing a high resolution image associated with a large imaging aperture using an optical imaging apparatus having a smaller aperture. In certain implementations, introduction of a coherent homodyne reference beam to a coherent imaging of an object can result in formation of a Fourier space side lobe that includes information about a portion of a spectrum representative of the object's Fourier spectrum. Images can be obtained at a number of different orientations to yield a number of such side lobe images so as to allow construction of the object's spectrum. A synthesized image corresponding to such a constructed spectrum can have an improved resolution that exceeds the performance limit imposed by the aperture of the optical imaging apparatus.