Abstract
A cryogenic mechanism has been built to correct for the blurring effects of atmospheric dispersion in adaptive-optics images from large aperture telescopes. Steward Observatory's 6.5 m telescope features a deformable Cassegrain secondary mirror compensating for atmospheric turbulence at wavelengths from 1-5 microns. At 1 micron, smearing caused by atmospheric dispersion equals the diffraction-limited image width (0.04 arcseconds FWHM). In order to correct for this effect and to maintain the low thermal background provided by the adaptive secondary, we have designed and built a cryogenic (77 K) atmospheric dispersion corrector. Operating over a spectral range of 1-5 microns, two pairs of counter-rotating calcium/lithium-fluoride prisms provide diffraction-limited imaging over a field of 1.7 arcminutes at a zenith angle up to 45 degrees.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 72-78 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Volume | 4441 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2001 |
| Event | Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering II - San Diego, CA, United States Duration: Jul 30 2001 → Jul 30 2001 |
Keywords
- ARIES
- Atmospheric dispersion
- Cryogenic prisms
- Infrared
- MMT
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering