Optical design and tolerances of wide-field imagers for astronomical survey

Simon Thibault; Jean Lacoursiere; Michel Doucet; Min Wang; Jerome Reecht

doi:10.1117/12.504597

3 November 2003 Optical design and tolerances of wide-field imagers for astronomical survey

Simon Thibault, Jean Lacoursiere, Michel Doucet, Min Wang, Jerome Reecht

Proceedings Volume 5173, Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering IV; 51730B (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.504597
Event: Optical Science and Technology, SPIE's 48th Annual Meeting, 2003, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We present three designs and tolerances of wide-field imagers (30'30 arc-minutes or larger) for astronomical surveying. Two infrared cameras (CPAPIR and PANORAMIX II) were designed for the 0.8-2.4 μm band and a third one (WIRCAM) for the visible and near-infrared band extending from 410 nm to 950 nm. The cameras are installed on the telescopes of the Canada-France-Hawaii (Hawaii, USA) and Mont Megantic Observatories (Quebec, Canada). The three cameras are compact, use only spherical refractive components and have an internal pupil accessible for insertion of filtering components. A Lyot stop must be used in the infrared camera for background rejection. For PANORAMIX II, a set of filters is used at the internal pupil. Correction of the large off-axis aberrations generated by the telescopes, wide spectral coverage, material choices, cryogenic temperature and alignment were the main design challenges. Also, tolerancing was particularly critical for the infrared cameras because they are cryogenically cooled, thus forbidding adjustment of internal components. The cameras’ theoretical performances are presented in terms of point-spread function, encircled energy and distortion.

Citation Download Citation

Simon Thibault, Jean Lacoursiere, Michel Doucet, Min Wang, and Jerome Reecht "Optical design and tolerances of wide-field imagers for astronomical survey", Proc. SPIE 5173, Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering IV, 51730B (3 November 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.504597

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