Design of the 6.5 m MMT adaptive optics system, and results from its prototype system FASTTRAC II
نویسندگان
چکیده
The first images of astronomical objects have been obtained with a telescope exploiting wavefront compensation with adaptive optics where the reference beacon was generated by laser excitation of mesospheric sodium. This was done using the FASTTRAC II low-order adaptive optics system at the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT). FASTTRAC II is a prototype for a full-scale adaptive optics system under construction for the 6.5 m telescope that will replace the MMT in late 1997. The 6.5 m system is designed to provide correction to the diffraction limit of resolution in the near infrared (1-5 μm) with high Strehl ratio and excellent sky coverage. This paper describes the new system and its expected performance in view of the achieved performance of FASTTRAC II.
منابع مشابه
Fasttrac Ii Nearrir Adaptive Optics System for the Multiple Mirror Telescope: Description & Preliminary Results
A new adaptive optics system has been constructed for moderately high resolution in the near infrared at the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT). The system, called FASTTRAC II, has been designed to combine the highest throughput with the lowest possible background emission by making the adaptive optical element be an existing and necessary part of the telescope, and by eliminating all warm surface...
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