Wide-field aberration corrector for spherical gossamer primary mirrors

David A. Beach

doi:10.1117/12.405784

31 October 2000 Wide-field aberration corrector for spherical gossamer primary mirrors

David A. Beach

Proceedings Volume 4091, Imaging Technology and Telescopes; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.405784
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2000, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

If gossamer primary mirrors were to be constructed in a spherical form, it would be possible to arrange a simple null- test in situ. However, spherical mirrors would require correction of the large amount of spherical aberration created in pupils that generally will be greater than 2 m diameter. The design requirement is for diffraction-limited performance over a useful angular field. The otherwise excellent wide- field design solutions of the classical Schmidt and Maksutov are inapplicable in gossamer structures because of the mass and size penalty of large refractive components. However, it is possible for this mode of correction to be achieved near the prime focus by means of pupil transfer optics that minify the large entrance pupil down to more acceptable dimensions. A problem with these solutions is constraint of field coverage due to pupil aberrations created by the large spherical aberration of the primary mirror. This leads the designer towards slower primaries and the penalty of larger, heavier structures. A solution is presented here for spherical primaries with speeds up to f/4. This is based on the 'KiwiStar' principle presented here in 1997, in which a large spherical catoptric is combined by pupil-transfer with a smaller spherical catadioptric to give well corrected wide field images of high speed. This system is well suited to correction at the prime focus of large spherical mirrors, and has only one relatively small weak aspheric surface to provide zonal correction, all other surfaces being spherical. An example is presented of a 4 m diameter, f/2.5 system that is diffraction-limited over the whole of a 0.25 degree field (43 mm diameter), for a bandpass of 486 - 850 nm.

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David A. Beach "Wide-field aberration corrector for spherical gossamer primary mirrors", Proc. SPIE 4091, Imaging Technology and Telescopes, (31 October 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.405784

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KEYWORDS

Mirrors

Spherical lenses

Monochromatic aberrations

Relays

Vignetting

Aspheric lenses

Chromatic aberrations

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