Status and performance of the Discovery Channel Telescope during commissioning

Stephen E. Levine; Thomas A. Bida; Tomas Chylek; Peter L. Collins; William T. DeGroff; Edward W. Dunham; Paul J. Lotz; Alexander J. Venetiou; Saeid Zoonemat Kermani

doi:10.1117/12.926415

17 September 2012 Status and performance of the Discovery Channel Telescope during commissioning

Stephen E. Levine, Thomas A. Bida, Tomas Chylek, Peter L. Collins, William T. DeGroff, Edward W. Dunham, Paul J. Lotz, Alexander J. Venetiou, Saeid Zoonemat Kermani

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV; 844419 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926415
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope is a 4.3m telescope designed for optical and near infrared astronomical observation. At first light, the telescope will have a cube capable of carrying five instruments and the wave front sensing and guider system at the f/6.1 RC focus. The corrected RC focus field of view is 30’ in diameter. Nasmyth and prime focus can be instrumented subsequently. Early commissioning work with the installed primary mirror and its support system started out using one of the wave front sensing probes mounted at prime focus, and has continued at RC with the recent installation of the secondary mirror. We will report on the on-sky pointing and tracking performance of the telescope, initial assessment of the functionality of the active optics support system, and tests of the early image quality of the telescope and optics. We will also describe the suite of first light instruments, and early science operations.

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Stephen E. Levine, Thomas A. Bida, Tomas Chylek, Peter L. Collins, William T. DeGroff, Edward W. Dunham, Paul J. Lotz, Alexander J. Venetiou, and Saeid Zoonemat Kermani "Status and performance of the Discovery Channel Telescope during commissioning", Proc. SPIE 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV, 844419 (17 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926415

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