An inexpensive turnkey 6.5m observatory with customizing options

J. S. Kingsley; R. Angel; W. Davison; D. Neff; J. Teran; B. Assenmacher; K. Peyton; H. M. Martin; C. Oh; D. Kim; E. Pearce; M. Rascon; T. Connors; D. Alfred; B. T. Jannuzi; D. Zaritsky; E. Christensen; J. Males; P. Hinz; R. Seaman; K. Gonzales; D. Adriaanse

doi:10.1117/12.2313889

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6 July 2018 An inexpensive turnkey 6.5m observatory with customizing options

J. S. Kingsley; R. Angel; W. Davison; D. Neff; J. Teran; B. Assenmacher; K. Peyton; H. M. Martin; C. Oh; D. Kim; E. Pearce; M. Rascon; T. Connors; D. Alfred; B. T. Jannuzi; D. Zaritsky; E. Christensen; J. Males; P. Hinz; R. Seaman; K. Gonzales; D. Adriaanse

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Proceedings Volume 10700, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes VII; 107004H (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313889
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

A turnkey observatory with 6.5-m telescope has been developed for a broad range of science applications. The observatory includes the telescope, mount and enclosure, installed on site and ready for operation. The telescope’s primary mirror is an f/1.25 honeycomb sandwich of borosilicate glass, similar to that of the MMT and Magellan telescopes. The baseline optical design is for a Gregorian Nasmyth focus at f/11. A Gregorian adaptive optics secondary that provides a wide-field focus corrected for ground layer turbulence (0.25 arcsecond images over a 4 arcminute field) as well as a narrow-field diffraction-limited focus is optional. Another option is a corrected f/5 focus with a 1° field. The observatory, built by partners from academia and industry with extensive experience, can be delivered within five years at a fixed price.

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J. S. Kingsley, R. Angel, W. Davison, D. Neff, J. Teran, B. Assenmacher, K. Peyton, H. M. Martin, C. Oh, D. Kim, E. Pearce, M. Rascon, T. Connors, D. Alfred, B. T. Jannuzi, D. Zaritsky, E. Christensen, J. Males, P. Hinz, R. Seaman, K. Gonzales, and D. Adriaanse "An inexpensive turnkey 6.5m observatory with customizing options", Proc. SPIE 10700, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes VII, 107004H (6 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313889

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