We present an optical design of a slicer-based integral-field spectrograph for GIRMOS. The performance budget of subsystems is discussed, and then the performance of the end-to-end design is evaluated to ensure compliance with overall requirements.
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a high-contrast imaging instrument designed to directly detect and characterize young, Jupiter-mass exoplanets. After six years of operation at Gemini South in Chile, the instrument is being upgraded and relocated to Gemini North in Hawaii as GPI 2.0. GPI helped establish that Jovian-mass planets have a higher occurrence rate at smaller separations, motivating several sub-system upgrades to obtain deeper contrasts (up to 20 times improvement to the current limit), particularly at small inner working angles. This enables access to additional science areas for GPI 2.0, including low-mass stars, young nearby stars, solar system objects, planet formation in disks, and planet variability. The necessary instrumental changes required toenable these new scientific goals are to (i) the adaptive optics system, by replacing the current Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor (WFS) with a pyramid WFS and a custom EMCCD, (ii) the integral field spectrograph, by employing a new set of prisms to enable an additional broadband (Y-K band) low spectral resolution mode, as well as replacing the pupil viewer camera with a faster, lower noise C-RED2 camera (iii) the calibration interferometer, by upgrading the low-order WFS used for internal alignment and on-sky target tracking with a C-RED2 camera and replacing the calibration high-order WFS used for measuring and correcting non-common path aberrations with a self coherent camera, (iv) the apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph designs and (v) the software, to enable high-efficiency queue operations at Gemini North. GPI 2.0 is expected to go on-sky in early 2024. Here I will present the new scientific goals, the key upgrades, the current status and the latest timeline for operations.
Most optical shops are now equipped with 5-axes grinding and polishing machines for manufacturing freeform optics. It can be advantageous to define off-axis parabolic (OAP) and ellipsoidal (OAE) mirrors as freeforms to ease their design, specification and fabrication as stand-alone wedge-less mirrors. This paper describes an algorithm generating the surface sag and sphere departure point clouds from the conjugation distances and fold angle of the mirror.
REVOLT is an experimental testbed that will be used to test novel AO components and AO techniques on sky at the 1.2m telescope of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. In its initial configuration that will be tested on-sky in spring 2022, REVOLT will have one deformable mirror, an ALPAO DM 277 and a Shack-Hartmann WFS based on a newly developed 512x512 pixel Near-Infrared Avalanche Photodiode array (Saphira). This testbed will be controlled at frame rates of up to 1 kHz by a Real-Time Controller (RTC) based on HEART1. HEART has gone through extensive testing and benchmarking, but this is the first time it will be tested on-sky. This paper will discuss customization of HEART required by REVOLT for the specified hardware, the issues found and lessons learned, the performance achieved during operations and the upgrades performed on HEART as a result.
Direct imaging of exoplanets can be used to characterize exoplanets by spectroscopy of their atmospheres. Coronagraphs are required to suppress the diffraction effects by blocking the starlight, however, residual wavefront error scatters starlight in the science images, losing faint exoplanet photons in stellar noise. The performance of a coronagraphic system is thus contingent upon how efficiently the wavefront aberrations are minimized. Lyot-stop low-order wavefront sensor (LLOWFS) is a well-established sensor that senses the light rejected by the focal plane mask and corrects low-order aberrations upstream of the coronagraph. Previous versions of the LLOWFS sensed the residual starlight at the defocused focal plane. However, on the NRC's NEW-EARTH high-contrast imaging testbed, pupil-plane images of LLOWFS have been used to address both Zernike and Fourier modes. The goal of the testbed is to develop SPIDERS/Subaru which is the technology demonstrator of the CAL2 unit of the upcoming Gemini Planet Imager 2.0 (GPI 2.0). Both SPIDERS and CAL2 will address the low-order modes for stabilizing speckles, and demonstrate an active suppression of speckles using the Fast Atmospheric Self-Coherent Camera Technique (FAST) by creating a region of up to 10-7 contrast at small angles. Thus, obtaining sub-nanometric pointing stability using the LLOWFS is crucial for achieving stable contrast results on the bench and on-sky. Here, we present LLOWFS closed-loop laboratory results under simulated post-Adaptive Optics residuals of GPI 2.0 and simulations of the LLOWFS and FAST sensors for SPIDERS.
NRC’s NEW-EARTH Lab has demonstrated in the laboratory a Self-Coherent Camera (SCC) concept combined with a Tilt-Gaussian-Vortex focal plane mask (FPM). This speckle suppression technique, a.k.a. Fast Atmospheric SCC Technique (FAST), can enhance the contrast up to 100 times. Based on this success, NRC is now building SPIDERS, a visitor instrument for Subaru telescope to be installed on the infrared Nasmyth platform behind AO188 and the new Subaru Beam Switcher. The beam can be either shared between SPIDERS and SCExAO for simultaneous observations or sent entirely to only one instrument. SPIDERS should also benefit from the upcoming AO188 deformable mirror (DM) upgrade (64x64 actuators) turning A188 to AO3k. The key-components of SPIDERS are an ALPAO DM468, used as a second-stage AO correction, a pupil apodizer mask, a Tilt-Gaussian FPM, a Lyot stop, a beam-splitter feeding (i), a C-RED2 camera imaging a 5” FoV in narrow bands and (ii), an imaging Fourier-Transform Spectrograph and a SAPHIRA camera for spectroscopy up to R~20,000 over a 3.3” FoV. SPIDERS optical design is fully reflective up to the FPM to avoid chromatic aberrations and reduce the number of surfaces. Two off-axis ellipsoid mirrors are enough to form the pupil planes required on the DM and the apodizer mask, and the f/64 focus on the FPM. Only lenses are used from the FPM up to the C-RED2 camera to mitigate the sensitivity of the SCC to vibrations. The Lyot stop reflects the blocked light to a camera acting as a Low-Order Wavefront Sensor complementing the SCC focal plane wavefront sensing.
In order to detect low mass and mature planets inwards of approximately 5 AU, future direct imaging instruments will require precision wavefront control that operates at relatively high speed. The self-coherent camera (SCC) is a promising technique for measuring the wavefront from science images at the focal plane. We present here results from NRC’s NEW-EARTH lab testing of the Fast Atmospheric SCC Technique, a variant of the SCC and its integration with a Lyot-stop Low-Order Wavefront Sensor. We demonstrate correction of quasi-static speckles in a half dark hole reaching raw 1σ contrasts on the order of 5 × 10−7 at 10 λ/D. We also present a simplified process for extracting measurements and/or DM commands from SCC images using a single matrixvector multiply. This testing and development are important steps on the way to the upcoming Subaru Pathfinder Instrument for Detection of Exoplanets and Removal of Speckles and the Gemini Planet Imager’s CAL2 upgrade.
Facility-class high-contrast exoplanet imaging systems are currently limited by non-common path quasi-static speckles. Due to these aberrations, the raw contrast saturates after a few seconds. Several active wavefront correction techniques have been developed to remove this noise, with limited success. The NRC Canada is funding two projects, the SPIDERS pathfinder at the Subaru telescope (ETA 2023), and the CAL2 upgrade of the Gemini Planet Imager-2 (ETA 2024), to deploy a modified self-coherent camera (based on FAST) to measure the focal plane electric field, and to apply wavefront corrections in a closed-loop down to 10s of ms in a narrow band. The CAL2 project will focus on developing a facilityclass focal plane & Lyot-stop Low-order sensors using a CRED2 and a SAPHIRA-based camera, reaching up to a gain of 100x in contrast for bright stars. The SPIDERS pathfinder will have a similar configuration with the addition of an imaging Fourier transform spectrograph, allowing the acquisition of a 3.3” diagonal FOV to up to R-20,000 in the NIR to perform advanced spectral differential imaging at a high-spectral resolution to search and characterize exoplanets. These projects will serve as the foundation to develop similar systems for future ground-/space-based telescopes, and be an important step toward the development of instruments to search for life signatures in the atmosphere of exoplanets.
GIRMOS is an integral field spectrograph designed to operate behind the Gemini North Adaptive Optics system. Its four arms will run in open-loop mode, using the telemetry received from GNAO to reconstruct tomographically the turbulence along each direction. The application of open-loop correction has been shown to be challenging on other instruments, because of the inability to monitor in real time its effect on the observed target. To reduce the risks associated to the use of open-loop adaptive optics with GIRMOS, we test our calibration procedures on sky using REVOLT, the adaptive optics bench and imager for the 1.2m telescope at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, Canada.
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is undergoing a number of upgrades as part of the process of moving the instrument from Gemini South to Gemini North. The upgraded instrument (GPI2.0) will include a new Real- Time Controller (RTC) that drives the eXtreme Adaptive Optics (XAO) system, which is composed of a new high-sensitivity Natural Guide Star (NGS) Pyramid Wavefront Sensor (PWFS), and the existing two Deformable Mirrors (DMs) and Tip/Tilt Stage (TTS) at loop rates up to 2 kHz with very low latency. The new RTC is based on the Herzberg Extensible Adaptive Real-time Toolkit (HEART), which is a collection of libraries and other software that can be used to control different types of Adaptive Optics (AO) systems. HEART’s configurability and flexibility lends itself well to GPI2.0 RTC. This paper explores how HEART functionality is used and configured to construct the GPI2.0 RTC.
The Gemini Infra-Red Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) is a four-arm, Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) IFU spectrograph being built for Gemini (commissioning in 2024). GIRMOS is being planned to interface with the new Gemini-North Adaptive Optics (GNAO) system, and is base lined with a requirement of 50% EE within a 0.100 spaxel at H-band. We present a design and forecast the error budget and performance of GIRMOS-MOAO working behind GNAO. The MOAO system will patrol the 20 field of regard of GNAO, utilizing closed loop GLAO or MCAO for lower order correction. GIRMOS MOAA will perform tomographic reconstruction of the turbulence using the GNAO WFS, and utilize order 16x16 actuator DMs operating in open loop to perform an additional correction from the Pseudo Open Loop (POL) slopes, achieving close to diffraction limited performance from the combined GNAO+MOAO correction. This high performance AO spectrograph will have the broadest impact in the study of the formation and evolution of galaxies, but will also have broad reach in fields such as star and planet formation within our Milky Way and supermassive black holes in nearby galaxies.
Optical chopping is a step taken to acquire calibrated images for high-contrast instruments such as our SPIDERS pathfinder, the CAL2.0 Gemini Planet Imager 2.0 upgrade, and other future projects. A unique design with smooth, continuous, and slow operation is needed to blink the fringed and unfringed images for dim and bright stars. The Ultra-Low Speed Optical Chopper (ULSOC) must blink between 0.05Hz and 100Hz with noise-free operation, stop in the ‘on’ or ‘off’ position, and have its timing controlled by an external trigger. Silicone dampers are utilized to ensure it is vibration-isolated from other components in the system. The self-calibrating system accepts any chopping wheel between 10-30 blades without the need to reconfigure software and will find its home position on every power-up. The ULSOC communicates serially to start and stop as needed during operation. Long operational periods (during on-sky observations) over a lifetime of at least 10 years, closed-loop stepper-servo control and optical feedback from the chopper wheel guarantees accurate and repeatable velocity and position. Initial prototypes show that smooth and noise-free operation are possible for the desired speed ranges, and vibration is well-managed. Further development this year will lead to a fully functional device to be tested on-sky with our SPIDERS instrument and lead the way to revisions down the road for future projects.
We present the last developments of the Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) demonstrator for the Gemini Infra-Red Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS). The GIRMOS MOAO system will able to deliver an image quality close to the diffraction-limit in the near-infrared (1.0-2.4μm) by taking advantage of the GLAO corrected wavefront delivered by the future Gemini North Adaptive Optics (GNAO) facility and performing an additional MOAO correction. MOAO is particularly challenging and risky because the DM is controlled in open-loop and usually subject to the so-called DM go-to-error which are difficult to model and manage. Therefore, as part of the preliminary design phase of the instrument, we decided to build a one-to-one scale demonstrator to mitigate some risks, exercise MOAO calibration techniques between two AO systems (GNAO and GIRMOS) and characterize of the MOAO performance. GIRMOS is a complex AO instrument and to circumvent the cost and complexity of such a system we are using a spatial light modulator (SLM) allowing the generation of turbulence in specific directions in the field without the need of pick-off system. In this paper, we present the status of the GIRMOS MOAO prototype. We exercised MOAO calibration and characterized the open-loop error and the GIRMOS MOAO performance in laboratory. We found, thanks to the GLAO- MOAO design, a very small open-loop error of about 60 nm rms. In addition, the GIRMOS MOAO design includes a figure source to compensate the DM accuracy errors. Using the figure source in laboratory, we compensated about 37 nm rms of go-to errors reducing the open-loop error down to 44 nm rms.
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a high contrast imaging instrument designed to directly detect and characterize young Jupiter-mass exoplanets. After six years of operation at Gemini South in Chile, the instrument is being upgraded and moved to Gemini North in Hawaii as GPI 2.0. As part of this upgrade, several improvements will be made to the adaptive optics (AO) system. This includes replacing the current Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (WFS) with a pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS) and a custom EMCCD. These changes are expected to increase GPI’s sky coverage by accessing fainter targets, improving corrections on fainter stars and allowing faster and ultra-low latency operations on brighter targets. The PWFS subsystem is being independently built and tested to verify its performance before its integration into the GPI 2.0 instrument. In this paper, we will present the design and pre-integration test plan of the PWFS.
GPI is a facility instrument designed for the direct detection and characterization of young Jupiter mass exoplanets. GPI has helped establish that the occurrence rate of Jovian planets peaks near the snow line (~3 AU), and falls off toward larger separations. This motivates an upgrade of GPI to achieve deeper contrasts, especially at small inner working angles, to extend GPI’s operating range to fainter stars, and to broaden its scientific capabilities, all while leveraging its historical success. GPI was packed and shipped in 2022, and is undergoing a major science-driven upgrade. We present the status and purpose of the upgrades including an EMCCD-based pyramid wavefront sensor, broadband low spectral resolution prisms, new apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph designs, upgrades of the calibration wavefront sensor and increased queue operability. We discuss the expected performance improvements and enhanced science capabilities to be made available in 2024.
We present the detailed performance of the preliminary end-to-end optical design of GIRMOS that is designed to take advantage of the multi-object adaptive optics corrected field at the Gemini North telescope. GIRMOS’s optical design consists of object selection pick-offs, adaptive optics, and four identical Integral-Field Spectrographs (IFSes), which employ image slicers to arrange the integral field along a slit. Each IFS can image the individual FOV of 1.0x1.0”, 2.0x2.0”, 4.0x4.0” over a 2’ diameter field-of-regard at different spatial sampling. The pick-offs can also be configured in close-packed arrangement to image a single field. Spectral resolutions of R~3000 and 8000 are available in 0.95-2.4 μm.
Focal plane wavefront sensing and control has been identified as a crucial technology to enable high contrast imaging down to terrestrial mass, habitable zone exoplanets with future observatories. However, open questions remain as to how such algorithms should be integrated into existing systems to enable reaching their optimal performance, particularly for ground-based adaptive optics (AO). In this paper we use numerical simulations to show that a focal plane wavefront sensing and control technique running on millisecond timescales, called the Fast Atmospheric Self-coherent camera Technique (FAST), can be designed to operate as a “second stage” AO wavefront sensor (WFS), both for low and high order active wavefront control. Accordingly, we propose a closed-loop real-time controller architecture to use both an AO and FAST WFS to control a common DM.
The SAM616 is a prototype deformable mirror built by CILAS for the Thirty Meter Telescope’s Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS). It was delivered to NRC-HAA in August 2018 for performance testing at room temperature and at the operating temperature of NFIRAOS, -30oC. Properties that were measured include the total stroke, hysteresis, creep and coupling of the actuators, as well as the flattening ability at various temperatures. The mirror has been found to meet (and in some case exceed) all its performance requirements including its flattening requirements.
High-contrast imaging instruments have advanced techniques to improve contrast, but they remain limited by uncorrected stellar speckles, often lacking a “second stage” correction to complement the Adaptive Optics (AO) correction. We are implementing a new second stage speckle-correction solution for the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), replacing the instrument calibration unit (CAL) with the Fast Atmospheric Self coherent camera Technique (FAST), a new version of the self-coherent camera (SCC) concept. Our proposed upgrade (CAL2.0) will use a common-path interferometer design to enable speckle correction, through post-processing and/or by a feedback loop to the AO deformable mirror. FAST utilizes a new type of coronagraphic mask that will enable, for the first time, speckle correction down to millisecond timescales. The system's main goal is to improve the contrast by up to 100x in a halfdark hole to enable a new regime of science discoveries. Our team has been developing this new technology at the NRC's Extreme Wavefront control for Exoplanet and Adaptive optics Research Topics (NEW EARTH) laboratory over the past several years. The GPI CAL2.0 update is funded (November 2020), and the system’s first light is expected late 2023.
The Narrow Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS) for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will use a natural guide star (NGS) Pyramid Wavefront Sensor (PWFS). A 32-mm diameter Fast Steering Mirror (FSM) is used to modulate the position of the NGS image around the tip of the pyramid. The mirror traces out a circular tip/tilt pattern at up to 800 Hz (the maximum operating frequency of NFIRAOS), with a diameter chosen to balance sensitivity and dynamic range. A circular dither pattern at 1/4 the modulation frequency is superimposed to facilitate optical gain measurements. The timing of this motion is synchronized precisely with individual exposures on the PWFS detector, and must also be phased with other wavefront sensors, such as Laser Guide Star Wavefront Sensors (LGSWFS) and the On-Instrument Wavefront Sensors (OIWFS) of NFIRAOS client instruments (depending on the observing mode), to minimize latency. During trade studies it was decided to pursue a piezo actuator from Physik Instrumente (PI) using a monocrystalline piezo material, as more conventional polycrystalline devices would not meet the lifetime, stroke, and frequency requirements. Furthermore, PI claims excellent stability and hysteresis with similar piezo stages, rendering sensor feedback unnecessary. To characterize the performance of this mechanism, and to verify that it can function acceptably in open-loop, we have operated the stage on a test bench using a laser and high-speed position sensing devices (PSDs) both at room temperature and at the cold -30C operating temperature of NFIRAOS. We have also prototyped the software and hardware triggering strategy that will be used to synchronize the FSM with the rest of NFIRAOS.
After more than six years of successful operation at Gemini South, the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) will be moved to Gemini-North. During this move, the instrument will undergo a series of upgrades. One of these upgrades will be the installation of a new pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS) with a low noise EMCCD detector that will replace the current Shack-Hartmann WFS. This upgrade is expected to significantly increase the sky coverage of GPI, providing increased level of AO correction and access to fainter targets. The new PWFS will be assembled on a standalone bench that will be aligned and tested independent of the GPI to ensure the required performance is achieved. Once the performance is verified, the completed subassembly will be installed in place of the current WFS hardware during the final integration into the GPI. In this paper, we will present the final design of the new GPI PWFS. Included will be a description of the optical performance simulations completed and their results, and a detailed overview of the opto-mechanical design of the new PWFS bench.
The Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) is an adaptive optics-fed multi-object integral field spectrograph with a parallel imaging capability. GIRMOS implements multi-object adaptive optics (MOAO) for each of its spectrographs by taking advantage of the infrastructure offered by Gemini upcoming wide-field AO facility at Manua Kea. The instrument offers the ability to observe four objects simultaneously within the Gemini-North AO (GNAO) system’s field-of-regard or a single object by tiling the four fields that feed light to four separate spectrographs. Each integral field spectrograph has an independent set of selectable spatial scales (0.025", 0.05", and 0.1" /spaxel) and spectral resolution (R 3,000 and 8,000) within an operating band of 0.95 2.4µm. These spatial scales correspond to indvidual spectrograph fields of view of 1x1", 2X2" , and 4x4", respectively. GIRMOS’s imager offers Nyquist sampling of the diffraction limit in H-band over a 85x85" imaging field. The imager can function in a parallel data acquisition mode with just minor vignetting spectroscopic pick- offs when they are deployed.
The NEW EARTH Laboratory (NRC Extreme Wavefront control for Exoplanet Adaptive optics Research Topics at Herzberg) has recently been completed at NRC in Victoria. NEW EARTH is the first Canadian test-bed dedicated to high-contrast imaging. The bench optical design allows a wide range of applications that could require turbulent phase screens, segmented pupils, or custom coronagraphic masks. Super-polished off-axis parabolas are implemented to minimize optical aberrations, in addition to a 468-actuator ALPAO deformable mirror and a Shack Hartmann WFS. The laboratory’s immediate goal is to validate the Fast Atmospheric Self-coherent camera Technique (FAST). The first results of this technique obtained in the NEW EARTH laboratory with a Tilt-Gaussian-Vortex focal plane mask, a reflective Lyot stop and Coherent Differential Imaging are encouraging. Future work will be aimed at expanding this technique to broader wavebands in the context of extremely large telescopes and at visible bands for space-based observatories.
We discuss the preliminary end-to-end optical design of an infrared multi-object integral-field spectrograph (GIRMOS) that is designed to take advantage of the multi-object adaptive optics corrected field at the Gemini telescope. GIRMOS’s optical design consists of object selection pick-offs, an adaptive optics (AO) system, and four identical Integral-Field Spectrographs (IFSes), which employ an image slicer to arrange the integral field along a slit. Each IFS can pick off the individual FOV of 1.0x1.0”, 2.0x2.0”, 4.0x4.0” over a 2’ diameter field-of-regard, at a spatial sampling of 25mas, 50mas, and 100mas, respectively. The pick-offs can also be configured in close-packed arrangement to image a single field. Spectral resolutions of R~3000 and 8000 are available in Y, J, H, and K-bands from 0.95 to 2.4μm.
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a dedicated high-contrast imaging facility designed for the direct detection and characterization of young Jupiter mass exoplanets. After six yrs of operation at Gemini South, GPI has helped establish that Jovian planets are rare at wide separations, but have higher occurrence rates at small separations. This motivates an upgrade of GPI to achieve deeper contrasts, especially at small inner working angles, while leveraging its current capabilities. GPI has been funded to undergo a major science-driven upgrade as part of a relocation to Gemini North (GN). Gemini plans to remove GPI at the end of 2020A. We present the status of the proposed upgrades to GPI including a EMCCD-based pyramid wavefront sensor, broadband low spectral resolution prisms and new apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph designs. We discuss the expected performance improvements in the context of GPI 2.0's enhanced science capabilities which are scheduled to be made available at GN in 2022.
The Gemini Infra-Red Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) is a four-arm, Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) IFU spectrograph being built for Gemini (commissioning in 2024). GIRMOS is being planned to interface with the new Gemini-North Adaptive Optics (GNAO) system, and is base lined with a requirement of 50% EE within a 0.100 spaxel at H-band. We present a design and forecast the error budget and performance of GIRMOS-MOAO working behind GNAO. The MOAO system will patrol the 20 field of regard of GNAO, utilizing closed loop GLAO or MCAO for lower order correction. GIRMOS MOAA will perform tomographic reconstruction of the turbulence using the GNAO WFS, and utilize order 16x16 actuator DMs operating in open loop to perform an additional correction from the Pseudo Open Loop (POL) slopes, achieving close to diffraction limited performance from the combined GNAO+MOAO correction. This high performance AO spectrograph will have the broadest impact in the study of the formation and evolution of galaxies, but will also have broad reach in fields such as star and planet formation within our Milky Way and supermassive black holes in nearby galaxies.
We present our development of the Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) system for the Gemini Infra-Red Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS). The GIRMOS MOAO system consists of four identical arms patrolling over a large field-ofregard (2 arcmin) and able to deliver an image quality close to the diffraction-limit in the near-infrared. The AO system of GIRMOS will performed MOAO correction on top of the wavefront delivered by the Gemini North AO (GNAO) system. We are currently prototyping one arm in the laboratory in order to validate the simulated performances and characterize the hardware as well as different MOAO control strategies. GIRMOS MOAO is a complex AO system and a complete lab characterization would require a full GNAO simulator with a pick-off system and multiple wavefront sensors (WFS), light sources, etc. To circumvent the cost and complexity of such a system we are using a spatial light modulator (SLM) allowing the generation of residual turbulences in specific directions in the field without the need of pick-off system. Coupled with a numerical end-to-end model of the system, our bench is focused on open-loop control rather than tomography. In this paper, we review the GIRMOS MOAO preliminary design of the system, the baseline performances and the status of the testbed.
We present a multiconjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) system simulator bench, Herzberg NFIRAOS Optical Simulator (HeNOS). HeNOS is developed to validate the performance of the MCAO system for the Thirty Meter Telescope, as well as to demonstrate techniques critical for future AO developments. We focus on describing the derivations of parameters that scale the 30-m telescope AO system down to a bench experiment and explain how these parameters are practically implemented on an optical bench. While referring to other papers for details of AO technique developments using HeNOS, we introduce the functionality of HeNOS, in particular, three different single-conjugate AO modes that HeNOS currently offers: a laser guide star AO with a Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor, a natural guide star AO with a pyramid wavefront sensor, and a laser guide star AO with a sodium spot elongation on the Shack–Hartmann corrected by a truth wavefront sensing on a natural guide star. Laser tomography AO and ultimate MCAO are being prepared to be implemented in the near future.
The TIKI instrument is a next generation 10-micron cryogenic extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) imager being designed for the Gemini South telescope. Its goal is to detect the thermal emission of Earth-like planets in orbit around Alpha Centauri A or B. TIKI is also a prototype for future TMT instruments capable of imaging Earth- like planets around a larger star sample, and performing low spectral resolution characterization to search for biomarkers on detected planets. The science module will operate at cryogenic temperature in order to minimize thermal background, dominant in the 10-micron wavelength range. The instrument will use Adaptive Optics, a vortex coronagraph, focal plane wavefront sensing, and advanced post-processing techniques to reach a 1E-7 contrast in less than 200 hours of observing time. It aims to be background-limited in the 2-5λ/D zone, which corresponds to the habitable zone around the two Sun-like stars of the Alpha Centauri system. In this paper, we give an overview of the project goals, present TIKI's conceptual optical design, and summarize preliminary simulation results.
GIRMOS is a new concept for a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) spectrograph for Gemini (commissioning in 2023). We present an overview of the GIRMOS-MOAO conceptual design and simulation results. This instrument will become a facility instrument at Gemini and carry out scientific follow-up for JWST, but will also act as a Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) pathfinder, laying the scientific and technical ground-work for developing a second generation instrument for TMT. Technical Innovations for GIRMOS include a modular, high performance MOAO system, and high throughput infrared imaging spectroscopy. These technological innovations will have the broadest impact in the study of the formation and evolution of galaxies, but will also have broad reach in fields such as star and planet formation within our Milky Way and supermassive black holes in nearby galaxies. The MOAO system will patrol the 2' field of regard of GeMS, and utilize 16×16 actuator DMs feeding 4 IFU spectrographs, to yield diffraction limited performance with a goal of 50% Strehl at H-band.
NFIRAOS (Narrow-Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System) will be the first-light multi-conjugate adaptive optics system for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). NFIRAOS houses all of its opto-mechanical sub-systems within an optics enclosure cooled to precisely -30°C in order to improve sensitivity in the near-infrared. It supports up to three client science instruments, including the first-light InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). Powering NFIRAOS is a Real Time Controller that will process the signals from six laser wavefront sensors, one natural guide star pyramid WFS, up to three low-order on-instrument WFS and up to four guide windows on the client instrument’s science detector in order to correct for atmospheric turbulence, windshake, optical errors and plate-scale distortion. NFIRAOS is currently preparing for its final design review in late June 2018 at NRC Herzberg in Victoria, British Columbia in partnership with Canadian industry and TMT.
A test setup and detailed plan for safe characterization of prototype deformable mirrors (DMs) for the Thirty Meter Telescope’ s Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS) are presented. The DM size and performance requirements for NFIRAOS are such that prototypes must be built and tested before commissioning the final deliverables in order to mitigate risk. There are two prototypes under test; the actuators have been constructed with the pitch, size and stroke range specified for the full scale DMs, and on the order of 15% of the total number of actuators required by DM0, the ground-conjugated DM. The diameters of the active areas of the prototypes are approximately 35% of the full DM0 diameter. The performance in terms of stroke, linearity, hysteresis and overall controllability must meet requirements at room temperature and at -30 degrees Celsius. NRC HAA has implemented a test setup to characterize the performance of the DM prototypes in this thermal environment. A testing procedure has also been developed to verify the technology up to its limits, while protecting from damage. A primary risk of damage comes from excessive inter-actuator stroke which must be carefully controlled, particularly in the case of non-linear and hysteretic actuators. A detailed calibration procedure and actuator protection scheme has been developed.
KEYWORDS: Adaptive optics, Wavefront sensors, Prisms, Stars, Wavefronts, Near infrared, Monte Carlo methods, Modulation, Electron multiplying charge coupled devices, Sensors
There are long existing limitations of the sky coverage of astronomical Adaptive Optics (AO) systems that use natural guide stars (NGSs) as reference sources. In this work, we present numerical simulations and lab test results of an optical NGS pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS) for the MMT AO system. The potential increase of sky coverage benefits from the gain in sensitivity of the PWFS in a closed-loop NIR AO system compared with the optical Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWFS). The upgraded MMT AO WFS system will use IR avalanche photodiode (APD) array with extremely low readout noise (at sub-electron level), run at a high frame rate (over 1kHz), and cover the wavelength range from 0.85-1.8 μm. This upgraded system will access a larger portion of the sky by looking at fainter, redder reference stars. We use ”yao” simulation to show the expected limiting magnitude gain of NIR PWFS compared with the existing optical SHWFS. The sky coverage will increase by 11 times at the Galactic plane and by 6 times at the North Galactic Pole when compared to traditional optical WFSs. This novel WFS will also enable observations of the dust obscured plane of the Galaxy, where the optical light of most stars is more extincted. We demonstrate the basic lab test with a set of double roof prisms. We evaluate the overall performance of the PWFS on our lab AO bench, present captured micro-pupil images and do wavefront reconstruction. We will upgrade to SAPHIRA and pyramid prism for later lab test. We plan to implement this system at MMT and carry out on-sky tests in Spring 2019.
The Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) is a powerful new instrument being built to facility- class standards for the Gemini telescope. It takes advantage of the latest developments in adaptive optics and integral field spectrographs. GIRMOS will carry out simultaneous high-angular-resolution, spatially-resolved infrared (1 - 2.4 µm) spectroscopy of four objects within a two-arcminute field-of-regard by taking advantage of multi-object adaptive optics. This capability does not currently exist anywhere in the world and therefore offers significant scientific gains over a very broad range of topics in astronomical research. For example, current programs for high redshift galaxies are pushing the limits of what is possible with infrared spectroscopy at 8 -10- meter class facilities by requiring up to several nights of observing time per target. Therefore, the observation of multiple objects simultaneously with adaptive optics is absolutely necessary to make effective use of telescope time and obtain statistically significant samples for high redshift science. With an expected commissioning date of 2023, GIRMOS’s capabilities will also make it a key followup instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope when it is launched in 2021, as well as a true scientific and technical pathfinder for future Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) multi-object spectroscopic instrumentation. In this paper, we will present an overview of this instrument’s capabilities and overall architecture. We also highlight how this instrument lays the ground work for a future TMT early-light instrument.
We report the optical design of an infrared (0.85-1.8 μm) pyramid wavefront sensor (IRPWFS) that is designed for the 6.5m MMT on telescope adaptive optics system using the latest developments in low-noise infrared avalanche photodiode arrays. The comparison between the pyramid and the double-roof prism based wavefront sensors and the evaluation of their micro pupils’ quality are presented. According to our analysis, the use of two double-roof prisms with achromatic materials produces the competitive performance when compared to the traditional pyramid prism, which is difficult to manufacture. The final micro pupils on the image plane have the residual errors of pupil position, chromatism, and distortion within 1/10 pixel over the 2×2 arcsecond field of view, which meet the original design goals.
The adaptive optics system for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is the Narrow-Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS). Recently, INO has been involved in the optomechanical design of several subsystems of NFIRAOS, including the Instrument Selection Mirror (ISM), the NFIRAOS Beamsplitters (NBS), and the NFIRAOS Source Simulator system (NSS) comprising the Focal Plane Mask (FPM), the Laser Guide Star (LGS) sources, and the Natural Guide Star (NGS) sources. This paper presents an overview of these subsystems and the optomechanical design approaches used to meet the optical performance requirements under environmental constraints.
Prior statistical knowledge of the turbulence such as turbulence strength, layer altitudes and the outer scale is essential for atmospheric tomography in adaptive-optics (AO). These atmospheric parameters can be estimated from measurements of multiple Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensors (SH-WFSs) by the SLOpe Detection And Ranging (SLODAR). In this paper, we present the statistics of the vertical CN2 and the outer scale L0 at Maunakea in Hawaii estimated from 60 hours telemetry data in total from multiple SH-WFSs of RAVEN, which is an on-sky multi-object AO demonstrator tested on the Subaru telescope. The mean seeing during the RAVEN on-sky observations is 0.475 arcsec, and 55% turbulence is below 1.5 km. The vertical profile of CN2 from the RAVEN SLODAR is consistent with the profiles from CFHT DIMM and MASS, and TMT site characterization.
A pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS) bench has been setup at NRC-Herzberg (Victoria, Canada) to investigate, first, the feasibility of a double roof prism PWFS, and second, test the proposed pyramid wavefront sensing methodology to be used in NFIRAOS for the Thirty Meter Telescope. Traditional PWFS require shallow angles and strict apex tolerances, making them difficult to manufacture. Roof prisms, on the other hand, are common optical components and can easily be made to the desired specifications. Understanding the differences between a double roof prism PWFS and traditional PWFS will allow for the double roof prism PWFS to become more widely used as an alternative to the standard pyramid, especially in a laboratory setting. In this work, the response of the double roof prism PWFS as the amount of modulation is changed, is compared to an ideal PWFS modelled using the adaptive optics toolbox, OOMAO in MATLAB. The object oriented toolbox uses physical optics to model complete AO systems. Fast modulation and dithering using a PI mirror has been implemented using a micro-controller to drive the mirror and trigger the camera. The various trade offs of this scheme, in a controlled laboratory environment, are studied and reported.
For today and future adaptive optics observations, sodium laser guide stars (LGSs) are crucial; however, the LGS elongation problem due to the sodium layer has to be compensated, in particular for extremely large telescopes. In this paper, we describe the concept of truth wavefront sensing as a solution and present its design using a pyramid wavefront sensor (PWFS) to improve NFIRAOS (Narrow Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System), the first light adaptive optics system for Thirty Meter Telescope. We simulate and test the truth wavefront sensor function under a controlled environment using the HeNOS (Herzberg NFIRAOS Optical Simulator) bench, a scaled-down NFIRAOS bench at NRC-Herzberg. We also touch on alternative pyramid component options because despite recent high demands for PWFSs, we suffer from the lack of pyramid supplies due to engineering difficulties.
This paper presents the AO performance we got on-sky with RAVEN, a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) technical and science demonstrator installed and tested at the Subaru telescope. We report Ensquared-Energy (EE) and Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) measured from science images on Subaru's IRCS taken during all of the on-sky observing runs. We show these metrics as function of different AO modes and atmospheric conditions for two asterisms of natural guide stars. The performances of the MOAO and Ground-Layer AO (GLAO) modes are between the classical Single-Conjugate AO (SCAO) and seeing-limited modes. We achieve the EE of 30% in H-band with the MOAO correction, which is a science requirement for RAVEN. The MOAO provides sightly better performance than the GLAO mode in both asterisms. One of the reasons which cause this small difference between the MOAO and GLAO modes may be the strong GL contribution. Also, the performance of the MOAO modes is affected by the accuracy of the on-sky turbulence profiling by the SLOpe Detection And Ranging (SLODAR) method.
Raven is a multi-object adaptive optics (MOAO) demonstrator that will be mounted on the NIR Nasmyth platform of the Subaru telescope in May, 2014. Raven can use three open-loop NGS WFSs and an on-axis LGS WFS to control DMs in two separate science pick-off arms. Centroiding in open loop AO systems like Raven is more difficult than in closed loop AO systems because the Shack-Hartmann spots will not be driven to the same spot on a detector. Rather the spots can fall on any combination of pixels because the WFSs need to have sufficient dynamic range to measure the full turbulence. In this paper, we compare correlation and thresholded center of gravity (tCOG) centroiding methods in simulation, with Raven using its calibration unit, and on-sky. Each method has its own advantages. Correlation centroiding is superior to tCOG centroiding for faint NGSs and for extended sources (Raven open loop WFSs do not contain ADCs so spots will become elongated). We expect that correlation centroiding will push the limiting magnitude of Raven NGSs fainter by roughly one magnitude. Correlation centroiding is computationally more intensive, however, and actually will limit Raven’s sampling rate for shorter integrations. Therefore, for bright stars with sufficiently high signal-to-noise, Raven can be run significantly faster and with superior performance using the tCOG method. Here we quantify both the performance and timing differences of these two centroiding methods in simulation, in the lab and on sky using Raven.
Raven is a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) technical and science demonstrator which had its first light at the Subaru telescope on May 13-14, 2014. Raven was built and tested at the University of Victoria AO Lab before shipping to Hawai`i. Raven includes three open loop wavefront sensors (WFSs), a central laser guide star WFS, and two independent science channels feeding light to the Subaru IRCS spectrograph. Raven supports different kinds of AO correction: SCAO, open-loop GLAO and MOAO. The MOAO mode can use different tomographic reconstructors, such as Learn-and-Apply or a model-based reconstructor. This paper presents the latest results obtained in the lab, which are consistent with simulated performance, as well as preliminary on-sky results, including echelle spectra from IRCS. Ensquared energy obtained on sky in 140mas slit is 17%, 30% and 41% for GLAO, MOAO and SCAO respectively. This result confirms that MOAO can provide a level of correction in between GLAO and SCAO, in any direction of the field of regard, regardless of the science target brightness.
This paper discusses static and dynamic tomographic wave-front (WF) reconstructors tailored to Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) for Raven, the first MOAO science and technology demonstrator recently installed on an 8m telescope. We show the results of a new minimum mean- square error (MMSE) solution based on spatio-angular (SA) correlation functions, which extends previous work in Correia et al, JOSA-A 20131 to adopt a zonal representation of the wave-front and its associated signals. This solution is outlined for the static reconstruction and then extended for the use of stand-alone temporal prediction and as a prediction model in a pupil plane based Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) algorithm. We have fully tested our algorithms in the lab and compared the results to simulations of the Raven system. These simulations have shown that an increase in limiting magnitude of up to one magnitude can be expected when prediction is implemented and up to two magnitudes when the LQG is used.
Raven is a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) scientific demonstrator which will be used on-sky at the Subaru
observatory. Raven is currently being built at the University of Victoria AO Lab. In this paper, we present an overview
of the final Raven design and then describe lab tests involving prototypes of Raven subsystems. The final design
includes three open loop wavefront sensors (WFSs), a laser guide star WFS and two figure/truth WFSs. Two science
channels, each containing a deformable mirror (DM), feed light to the Subaru IRCS spectrograph. Central to the Raven
MOAO system is a Calibration Unit (CU) which contains multiple sources, a telescope simulator including two rotating
phase screens and a ground layer DM that can be used to calibrate and test Raven. We are working with the Raven CU
and open loop WFSs to test and validate our open loop calibration and alignment techniques.
INO has designed, assembled and tested the Raven Multi-Object Adaptive Optics demonstrator calibration unit. This
sub-system consists in a telescope simulator that will allow aligning Raven's components during its integration, testing
its Adaptive Optics performances in the laboratory and at the telescope, and calibrating the Adaptive Optics system by
building the interaction matrix and measuring the non-common path aberrations. The system is presented with the
challenges that needed to be overcome during the design and integration phases. The system test results are also
presented and compared to the model predictions.
Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) is an open loop aproach to wide field AO which uses measurements from
multiple guide stars (GS) to compute an estimate of the atmospheric turbulence in any direction within the
GS asterism. Rather than trying to extend correction over the entire field as in Multi-Conjugate AO (MCAO),
MOAO seeks only to generate high quality correction in specific directions with multiple deformable mirrors
(DM), each driving the correction for an individual direction. A tomographic reconstructor uses the slopes
sensed by the GS WFSs to estimate the atmospheric turbulence in the science directions. Raven is a MOAO
science and technology demonstrator which is currently under development; testing of tomography algorithms is
being carried out in order to begin verifying that the results predicted in simulation will be achievable with the real system.
Raven is a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) technical and scientific demonstrator which will be used on
the Subaru telescope with the IRCS spectrograph. The optical and mechanical designs are finalised and the
system is now being integrated in the lab at UVic. Raven features three open-loop wavefront sensors (WFS)
patrolling a 3.5' field of regard, one on-axis LGS WFS, two science channels each equipped with a pick-off arm,
an 11x11 actuator deformable mirror, a closed-loop WFS for calibration and performance comparison and an
image rotator. This paper presents in detail the optical design and its performance, as well as the mechanical
design.
In the context of instrumentation for Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs), an Integral Field Spectrographs
(IFSs), fed with a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) system, has many scientific and technical advantages.
Integrated with an ELT, a MOAO system will allow the simultaneous observation of up to 20 targets in a several
arc-minute field-of-view, each target being viewed with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. However,
before building a MOAO instrument for an ELT, several critical issues, such as open-loop control and calibration,
must be solved. The Adaptive Optics Laboratory of the University of Victoria, in collaboration with the Herzberg
Institute of Astrophysics, the Subaru telescope and two industrial partners, is starting the construction of a
MOAO pathfinder, called Raven. The goal of Raven is two-fold: first, Raven has to demonstrate that MOAO
technical challenges can be solved and implemented reliably for routine on-sky observations. Secondly, Raven
must demonstrate that reliable science can be delivered with multiplexed AO systems. In order to achieve these
goals, the Raven science channels will be coupled to the Subaru's spectrograph (IRCS) on the infrared Nasmyth
platform. This paper will present the status of the project, including the conceptual instrument design and a
discussion of the science program.
Variations of the sodium layer altitude and atom density profile induce errors on laser-guide-star (LGS) adaptive
optics systems. These errors must be mitigated by (i), optimizing the LGS wavefront sensor (WFS) and the
centroiding algorithm, and (ii), by adding a high-pass filter on the LGS path and a low-bandwidth
natural-guide-star WFS. In the context of the ESO E-ELT project, five centroiding algorithms, namely the centre-of-gravity
(CoG), the weighted CoG, the matched filter, the quad-cell and the correlation, have been evaluated in closedloop
on the University of Victoria LGS wavefront sensing test bed. Each centroiding algorithm performance is
compared for a central versus side-launch laser, different fields of view, pixel sampling, and LGS flux.
NFIRAOS, the TMT Observatory's initial facility AO system is a
multi-conjugate AO system feeding science light from
0.8 to 2.5 microns wavelength to several near-IR client instruments. NFIRAOS has two deformable mirrors optically
conjugated to 0 and 11.2 km, and will correct atmospheric turbulence with 50 per cent sky coverage at the galactic pole.
An important requirement is to have very low background: the plan is to cool the optics; and one DM is on a tip/tilt stage
to reduce surface count. NFIRAOS' real time control uses multiple sodium laser wavefront sensors and up to three IR
natural guide star tip/tilt and/or tip/tilt/focus sensors located within each client instrument. Extremely large telescopes
are sensitive to errors due to the variability of the sodium layer. To reduce this sensitivity, NFIRAOS uses innovative
algorithms coupled with Truth wavefront sensors to monitor a natural star at low bandwidth. It also includes an IR acquisition
camera, and a high speed NGS WFS for operation without lasers. For calibration, NFIRAOS includes simulators
of both natural stars at infinity and laser guide stars at varying range distance. Because astrometry is an important
science programme for NFIRAOS, there is a precision pinhole mask deployable at the input focal plane. This mask is
illuminated by a science wavelength and flat-field calibrator that shines light into NFIRAOS' entrance window. We
report on recent effort especially including trade studies to reduce field distortion in the science path and to reduce cost
and complexity.
Adaptive optics (AO) is essential for many elements of the science case for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The
initial requirements for the observatory's facility AO system include diffraction-limited performance in the near IR, with
50 per cent sky coverage at the galactic pole. Point spread function uniformity and stability over a 30 arc sec field-ofview
are also required for precision photometry and astrometry. These capabilities will be achieved via an order 60×60
multi-conjugate AO system (NFIRAOS) with two deformable mirrors, six laser guide star wavefront sensors, and three
low-order, IR, natural guide star wavefront sensors within each client instrument. The associated laser guide star facility
(LGSF) will employ 150W of laser power at a wavelength of 589 nm to generate the six laser guide stars.
We provide an update on the progress in designing, modeling, and validating these systems and their components over
the last two years. This includes work on the layouts and detailed designs of NFIRAOS and the LGSF; fabrication and
test of a full-scale prototype tip/tilt stage (TTS); Conceptual Designs Studies for the real time controller (RTC) hardware
and algorithms; fabrication and test of the detectors for the
laser- and natural-guide star wavefront sensors; AO system
modeling and performance optimization; lab tests of wavefront sensing algorithms for use with elongated laser guide
stars; and high resolution LIDAR measurements of the mesospheric sodium layer. Further details may be found in
specific papers on each of these topics.
The Adaptive Optics Laboratory of the University of Victoria has built a LGS SH-WFS test bench for the Thirty-Meter-
Telescope project and its AO system, NFIRAOS. The UVic AOLab has recently shown the ability to track Na profile
induced aberrations while correcting for turbulence aberrations. The UVic AOLab has started the second phase of development
of its LGS SH-WFS test bench. This next step consists of adding the Truth WFSs into the current bench design
and of modeling and implementing the algorithms which blend the data coming from the variousWFSs. This paper shows
the various components of the control architecture of NFIRAOS LGS wavefront sensing process. A first simulation shows
the stability of the proposed control architecture and demonstrates that the DM is kept away from reproducing the LGS
aberrations.
The Adaptive Optics Laboratory of the University of Victoria has build a LGS SH-WFS test bench for the Thirty-Meter-Telescope project and its AO system, NFIRAOS. The UVic AOLab has recently shown the ability to track Na profile
induced aberrations while correcting for turbulence aberrations. The UVic AOLab has started the second phase of development
of its LGS SH-WFS test bench. This next step consists in adding the Truth WFSs into the current bench design
and in modeling and implementing the algorithms which blends the data coming from the variousWFSs. This paper shows
the various components of the control architecture of NFIRAOS LGS wavefront sensing process. A first simulation shows
the stability of the proposed control architecture and demonstrates that the DM is kept away from reproducing the LGS
aberrations.
Sodium laser guide stars (LGSs) allow, in theory, full sky coverage, but have their own limitations. Variations
of sodium layer altitude, thickness and atom density profile induce changing errors on wavefront measurements
(LGS aberrations), especially with ELTs for which the LGS spot elongation is larger. In the framework of the
Thirty-Meter-Telescope project (TMT), the AO-Lab of the University of Victoria (UVic) built a LGS-simulator
test bed in order to assess the performance of new centroiding algorithms for LGS Shack-Hartmann wavefront
sensors (SH-WFS). The principle of the LGS-bench is briefly reviewed. The closed-loop performances of the
matched filter (MF) algorithm on laboratory 29x29 elongated spot images are presented and compared with the
centre of gravity (CoG). The ability of the MF to track the LGS aberrations is successfully demonstrated. The
UVic LGS-bench is not limited to SH-WFS and can serve as a LGS-simulator test bed to any other LGS-AO
projects for which sodium layer fluctuations are an issue.
We present a test bench designed to study the performances of interferometric recombination systems, mainly for direct imaging applications (hypertelescope principle). It aims at comparing the aperture synthesis, Fizeau and densified pupils beam combination schemes. It allows identification of the technical requirements like photometry and cophasing correction of the future imaging recombiners for large arrays. A densified assembly has been designed in the visible wavelengths, using a multi-apertures mask associated with a wavefront sensor. It allows pupil rearrangement and spatial filtering by using single mode fibers. The technical specifications and the conception of the fiber densifier are described here, with a particular attention to the correction of the differential chromatic dispersion.
We present recent developments of the CAOS "system", an IDL-based Problem Solving Environment (PSE) whose original aim was to define and simulate as realistically as possible the behavior of a generic adaptive optics (AO) system, from the atmospheric propagation of light, to the sensing of the wave-front aberratoins and the correction through a deformable mirror. The different developments made through the last 7 years result in a very versatile numerical tool complete of a global graphical interface (the CAOS Application Builder), and different specialized scientific packages: the original one designed for AO system simulations (the Software Package CAOS), an image reconstruction package with interferometric capabilities (the Software Package AIRY), and a more recent one being built and dedicated to multiconjugate AO (the Software Package MAOS). We present the status of the whole CAOS "system"/PSE, together with the most recent developments, including parallelization strategy considerations, examples of application, and plans for the next future.
Direct detection and characterization of terrestrial extrasolar
planets are now a high-priority scientific program where new major
results from extremely large telescopes (ELTs) are expected. This
application is also the most demanding for the adaptive optics
(AO) and the mirror segment cophasing. To optimize the fundamental
performances of an ELT in high-contrast imaging, we compare the
effects of segment cophasing errors with the effects of each AO
residual phase errors (wavefront sensor noise, fitting, aliasing,
servo-lag) on the long-exposure point-spread function halo. We
emphasize that an adaptive correction of the differential segment
piston at a nanometric level is needed to keep the contrast gain
provided by a high-order AO. We show the potential advantages of
an adaptive primary mirror for this purpose. Lastly, we present
the planet detection performances in the photon-noise-limited case
for different telescopes, AO parameters, and observational
conditions (star magnitudes and sites).
According to the "hypertelescope" imaging mode, stellar
interferometers could provide direct snapshot images. Whereas the
Fizeau imaging mode is useless when the aperture is highly
diluted, a "densified-pupil" or "hypertelescope" imaging mode can
concentrate most light into the high-resolution central
interference peak, allowing direct imaging of compact sources and
stellar coronagraphy for exoplanets finding. The current VLTI is
able to combine light from 2 to 3 telescopes coherently, but the
combination of 4 to 8 beams is foreseen in subsequent phases. In
order to exploit the full forthcoming VLTI infrastructure, a next
generation instrument has been proposed (VIDA) in 2002 for very
high-resolution snapshot imaging with UTs and/or ATs. This paper
presents a new attractive design studied for this instrument using
single mode optical fibers and allowing a multi-field imaging
mode. We also give the expected performances with a coronagraph,
computed from numerical simulations including cophasing and
adaptive optics residual errors.
We describe a test bench designed to study the performances of interferometric imaging systems. The main goal is to study the densified pupil concept in the framework of the VLTI. This work is linked to the proposition of a second generation instrument called VIDA (VLTI Imaging with a Densified Array). This bench aims at comparing the imaging performances of the aperture synthesis, Fizeau and densified pupils beam combination schemes and at specifying the technical requirements like cophasing and tip-tilt correction. A Fizeau assembly, using a multi-apertures mask and associated with a wavefront sensor, has been designed. It allows to measure the differential piston between sub-apertures and to link them to the characteristics of the image recovered. A densified assembly is under study by using reflective surfaces or optical fibers to carry the beams and to densify the pupils before the combination.
KEYWORDS: Actuators, Telescopes, Adaptive optics, Planets, Stars, Coronagraphy, Exoplanets, Signal to noise ratio, Space telescopes, Point spread functions
Since 1995, expolanets discoveries have triggered a renewal of the permanent question about the possible presence of life outside the solar system. Direct detection and characterization of earth-like extrasolar planets orbiting main-sequence stars are now among the most exciting and challenging astronomical topics where new major scientific results from space missions and also from ground-based ELT are expected. To scale the performances of an ELT for exoplanets searching, we examine the relative impact of three fundamental parameters (the actuator pitch, the telescope diameter and the site) on the image contrast. Then, we calculate the planet/star flux ratio needed to reach SNR=3 in 10h (only the photon noise is considered) from long-exposure AO-PSF computed with PAOLA (a fast analytical code developed by one of us: L.J.) for different ELT sizes and AO parameters under different observational conditions (atmospheric turbulenece, star magnitude) with or without coronagraphy. We find that an actuator pitch of 0.1 m is optimal for exoplanet searching in the visible and near-IR from 10 to 40 pc. Lastly, we emphasize that the site choice is as important as the telescope size choice is: a 15m telescope is just enough for coronagraphic search for exo-earths at 10pc (SNR=3 in 10h) from the promising Dome C (Antarctica), while a 30m ELT is needed to succeed the same observation in the same time from the Mauna Kea.
At the moment the best bet to obtain an extremely high actuator density for extremely large pupils seems to be that of extending the current adaptive secondary mirror technology to segmented "adaptive primaries." The main components of a segment of an adaptive primary mirror are beng studied in order to determine all the parameters able to statically keep the mechanical response within the optical specifications and to dynamically provide the stiffness and damping features needed by the adaptive optics control system. Both static and dynamical requirements depend critically on actuator geometry and structure, mirror shape and thickness, and implementation of the control system. The mechanical response has been numerically evaluated in terms of deformation under gravity, mirror influence functions and actuator layout, including their interface to the shell.
The two 911mm-diameter adaptive secondary (AS) mirrors for the Large Binocular telescope (LBT) are currently under construction. The design of the units has been based on the extensive experience made on the MMT adaptive secondary mirror during laboratory tests and telescope runs. Mechanics, electronics and control logic have been revised to improve performances and reliability. Each unit has 672 electro-magnetic force actuators. They control the figure of the Gregorian secondary 1.6mm-thick mirrors with an internal loop using the signal of co-located capacitive sensors. The improvement in the computational power of the on-board control electronics allows to use it as real-time computer for wavefront reconstruction. We present the progress of the final unit construction and the preliminary laboratory results obtained with a 45-actuator
sub-system used to test the new features introduced in the electronics and mechanics of LBT adaptive secondary mirrors.
'Densified-pupil multi-aperture imaging arrays', also called hypertelescopes, provide a path towards rich images obtained directly at the focal plane. They typically involve a large Fizeau arrangement, with a small attached 'pupil densifier' serving to gain luminosity at the expense of field. At scales ranging from kilometers to perhaps a million kilometers, such architectures appear of interest for stellar physics, galaxies, cosmology, and neutron star imaging with the larger sizes. Ground testing is initiated and space versions are proposed, particularly to NASA for its Terrestrial Planet Finder. The coronagraphic imaging achievable with this space version is expected to improve the detection sensitivity to attenuating the sky background contribution. Subsequent laser versions can in principle resolve the 'green spots' on an Earth seen at several parsecs. Current design work for a precursor array of 'flying mirrors' driven by solar sails in geostationary orbit will be presented.
The 8-m class telescopes are now in full operation, while 100-m
baseline interferometers (VLTI, KeckI) are starting routine
operation too. A working group from the French high angular
resolution community tried to identify what could be our
post-VLT/VLTI instruments after 2010. Possible future instruments,
ground or space-based, can be split into three main categories:
Extremely large filled aperture telescopes, diluted
interferometric arrays for direct imaging, and diluted
interferometric arrays for aperture synthesis imaging. These
concepts are compared in terms of observing capabilities and
performances (spatial resolution, field of view, imaging
capability, sensitivity, photometric dynamical range, etc.),
technological issues (adaptive optics, phasing, instrument mount,
etc.) and R&D priorities.
Only in the recent years did it become realized that multi-aperture interferometric arrays could provide direct snapshot images and coronagraphic images in a non-Fizeau mode. Whereas homothetic mapping of entrance pupil to exit pupil is useless when the aperture is higly diluted, a "densified-pupil" or "hypertelescope" imaging mode can concentrate most light into a high-resolution Airy peak. In addition to the luminosity gain, there is a contrast gain particularly valuable for stellar coronagraphy and exoplanets finding. The current VLTI is able to combine light from two telescopes coherently. In subsequent phases, a combiner is planned for applying closure phase with up to eight telescopes (UT and AT). The small number of apertures currently considered at the VLTI, does not take full advantage of hypertelescope imaging, but still performs significantly better than other observing modes (+3.8mag gain in comparison with Fizeau mode). We propose some possible optical scheme for a densified-pupil combiner for the VLTI. Beyond its science value, the proposed instrument can serve as a precursor for many-element post-VLTI hypertelescopes.
The Optical Very Large Array (OVLA) project consists in a kilometric-size optical interference of 27 mobile 1.5 m telescopes designed to provide high-resolution IR and visible snap-shot images. An OVLA prototype telescope has been developed at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence. It features a 1.5 m meniscus-shaped f/1.7 primary mirror weighting 200 kg including its active cell with 32 actuators. The mirror blank made of 24 mm-thick ordinary window glass is very cheap but extremely sensitive to temperature variations because of its large CTE (3 times larger than Pyrex). Indeed, the mirror shows a Z11 equals 3150 nm rms wavefront error due to a 0.5 degree(s)C thermal gradient generated between its front and back side by an unbalanced heat dissipation towards the night sky and the ground. This spherical aberration, too large to be corrected by the actuators, is compensated by an uniform electrical current generated through the aluminum coating by 42 peripheral electrodes. We also describe the electrodes control hardware and present some results obtained during the first light of the telescope. Lastly, we propose a possible upgraded surface heating system to adjust thermally other optical aberrations.
The OVLA will be a kilometric-size interferometric array of N equals 27 or more 1.5 m telescopes. It is expected to provide visible to infra-red snap-shot images, containing in densified pupil mode N2 10-4 arc-second wide resolved elements in yellow light. The prototype telescope is under construction at Observatoire de Haute Provence and will be connected in 2000 to the GI2T, Grand Interferometre a 2 Telescopes, thus upgraded to a GI3T. The prototype telescope has a spherical mount, well suited for multi- aperture interferometric work, and a thin active 1.5 m f/1.7 mirror weighting only 180 kg with the active cell. This meniscus-shaped mirror, made of low-cost ordinary window glass, is only 24 mm thick and supported by 32 actuators. We describe the telescope optical concept with emphasis on opto-mechanical aspects and the test results of the active optics system. We also discuss the application of this mirror concept to large mosaic mirrors of moderate cost.
A prototype telescope for the optical very large array (OVLA) project is under construction at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence (OHP), France. The OVLA will b a long- baseline optical interferometer of 27 mobile 1.5m- telescopes. In 2000, the functioning of the OVLA prototype will be tested outdoors alongsite the two other telescopes of the GI2T to form a 3-telescope interferometer. Firstly, we briefly present the design of this telescope highlighting its unusual characteristics, which include a spherical mount and a thin active primary mirror. We had to study a specific control system for driving mount and for the active mirror cell. Hardware and software design of these two systems are also presented, as well as some test results. Lastly, we propose a complete electronic architecture for the fully equipped OVLA prototype telescope. The telescope system is partitioned into elementary distinct subsystems each controlled by a small embedded calculator linked to each other by an addressable serial bus. With this kind of architecture, the telescope is fully autonomous. Thus the future installation of the OVLA prototype telescope at the GI2T site should be easier, as well as the installation of a large interferometer such as OVLA where 27 telescopes are expected.
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