Vacuum focus testing of large telescopes

John J. Lumia

doi:10.1117/12.732189

26 September 2007 Vacuum focus testing of large telescopes

John J. Lumia

Proceedings Volume 6677, Earth Observing Systems XII; 66770B (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.732189
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2007, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The advent of large telescopes for remote sensing presents special challenges for optical testing, particularly for verifying focal plane array alignment. If testing in air, the large well-enclosed telescope cavity can create air stagnation or thermal gradient effects that can distort the optical wavefront unpredictably, resulting in noisy and inaccurate measurements. Testing in vacuum presents instrumentation challenges but eliminates the air effects and provides excellent data. This paper describes the experimental setups and compares through-focus test results for a large remote sensing telescope when tested in both air and in a vacuum.

Citation Download Citation

John J. Lumia "Vacuum focus testing of large telescopes", Proc. SPIE 6677, Earth Observing Systems XII, 66770B (26 September 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.732189

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