Design, motivation, and on-sky tests of an efficient fiber coupling unit for 1-meter class telescopes

Michael Bottom; Philip S. Muirhead; Jonathan J. Swift; Ming Zhao; Paul Gardner; Peter P. Plavchan; Reed L. Riddle; Erich Herzig; John Asher Johnson; Jason T. Wright; Nate McCrady; Robert A. Wittenmeyer

doi:10.1117/12.2055605

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28 July 2014 Design, motivation, and on-sky tests of an efficient fiber coupling unit for 1-meter class telescopes

Michael Bottom, Philip S. Muirhead, Jonathan J. Swift, Ming Zhao, Paul Gardner, Peter P. Plavchan, Reed L. Riddle, Erich Herzig, John Asher Johnson, Jason T. Wright, Nate McCrady, Robert A. Wittenmeyer

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Proceedings Volume 9147, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V; 91472E (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055605
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

We present the science motivation, design, and on-sky test data of a high-throughput fiber coupling unit suitable for automated 1-meter class telescopes. The optical and mechanical design of the fiber coupling is detailed and we describe a flexible controller software designed specifically for this unit. The system performance is characterized with a set of numerical simulations, and we present on-sky results that validate the performance of the controller and the expected throughput of the fiber coupling. This unit was designed specifically for the MINERVA array, a robotic observatory consisting of multiple 0.7 m telescopes linked to a single high-resolution stabilized spectrograph for the purpose of exoplanet discovery using high-cadence radial velocimetry. However, this unit could easily be used for general astronomical purposes requiring fiber coupling or precise guiding.

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Michael Bottom, Philip S. Muirhead, Jonathan J. Swift, Ming Zhao, Paul Gardner, Peter P. Plavchan, Reed L. Riddle, Erich Herzig, John Asher Johnson, Jason T. Wright, Nate McCrady, and Robert A. Wittenmeyer "Design, motivation, and on-sky tests of an efficient fiber coupling unit for 1-meter class telescopes", Proc. SPIE 9147, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V, 91472E (28 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055605

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