New active large liquid primary mirror for space applications

D. Brousseau; S. Thibault; Gabriel Tayama

doi:10.1117/12.3028923

1 October 2024 New active large liquid primary mirror for space applications

D. Brousseau, S. Thibault, Gabriel Tayama

Proceedings Volume 13131, Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering XXV; 1313109 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3028923
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2024, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Liquid Mirror Telescopes have been shown to be a credible alternative to traditional telescopes for building low-cost observatories. Previous LMTs were based on the rotation of a pool of mercury which, from the rotation, takes the shape of a parabola. However, they cannot be tilted as traditional telescopes to observe at fields away from the zenith. In the context of the DARPA Zenith program, we present a telescope concept where a magnetic fluid is shaped to a parabolic surface by combining wetting effects and magnetic fields which allow the telescope to be tilted. We also show that the off-axis optical aberrations of the telescope, when observing off-axis, can be cancelled by a surface correction of the parabolic liquid surface by adding a correction to the already applied magnetic field that shapes the mirror surface. In this approach, the scientific instruments are located at the focal plane and designed to track the beam as the field changes.

Conference Presentation

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

D. Brousseau, S. Thibault, and Gabriel Tayama "New active large liquid primary mirror for space applications", Proc. SPIE 13131, Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering XXV, 1313109 (1 October 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3028923

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