Active optical system design for the 4.2-m SOAR telescope

Victor L. Krabbendam; Gregory P. Ruthven; Victor P. Bennett; John P. Blackburn; Charles D. Cox; Chi S. Keung; Terence A. Facey; Mark E. Furber; Conrad Neufeld; Richard A. Rockwell; Andrea M. Sarnik; John T. Stein

doi:10.1117/12.391503

20 July 2000 Active optical system design for the 4.2-m SOAR telescope

Victor L. Krabbendam; Gregory P. Ruthven; Victor P. Bennett; John P. Blackburn; Charles D. Cox; Chi S. Keung; Terence A. Facey; Mark E. Furber; Conrad Neufeld; Richard A. Rockwell; Andrea M. Sarnik; John T. Stein

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4003, Optical Design, Materials, Fabrication, and Maintenance; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.391503
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2000, Munich, Germany

Abstract

The SOAR Telescope project has embarked on the development of a very high quality 4.2-meter diameter optical telescope to be sited on Cerro Pachon in Chile. The telescope will feature an image quality of 0.18 arc seconds, a moderate field of 11 arc minutes, a very large instrument payload capacity for as many as 9 hot instruments, and an Active Optical System optimized for the optical to near IR wavelengths. The active optical system features a 10 cm thick ULE^TM primary mirror supported by 120 electro- mechanical actuators for a highly correctable surface. the 0.6 meter diameter secondary is articulated by a hexapod for real time optical alignment. The 0.6-meter class tertiary will provide fast beam steering to compensate for atmospheric turbulence at 50 hertz and a turret for directing the light to either of two nasmyth or three-bent cassegrain ports. Both the secondary and tertiary are light- weighted by machining to achieve cost-effective low weight mirrors. This paper discusses the unique features of this development effort including many commercial products and software programs that enable its technical feasibility and high cost efficiency.

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Victor L. Krabbendam, Gregory P. Ruthven, Victor P. Bennett, John P. Blackburn, Charles D. Cox, Chi S. Keung, Terence A. Facey, Mark E. Furber, Conrad Neufeld, Richard A. Rockwell, Andrea M. Sarnik, John T. Stein, "Active optical system design for the 4.2-m SOAR telescope", Proc. SPIE 4003, Optical Design, Materials, Fabrication, and Maintenance, (20 July 2000); doi: 10.1117/12.391503; https://doi.org/10.1117/12.391503

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