Concept for the GMT high-contrast exoplanet instrument GMAgaO-X and the high-contrast phasing testbed with MagAO-X

Laird M. Close, Jared R. Males, Alex Hedglen, Antonin Bouchez, Olivier Guyon

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Here we review the current conceptual optical mechanical design of GMagAO-X-the extreme AO (ExAO) system for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The GMagAO-X tweeter deformable mirror (DM) design is novel in that it uses an optically distributed set of pupils that allows seven commercially available 3000 actuator BMC DMs to work “in parallel” to effectively create an ELT-scale ExAO tweeter DM – with all parts commercially available today. The GMagAO-X “parallel DM” tweeter will have 21,000 actuators to be used at ~2kHz update speeds enabling high-contrast science at ~5 mas separations in the visible and NIR of the spectrum (0.6-1.7 microns). To prove our concept for GMagAO-X several items must be lab tested: the optical/mechanical concept for the parallel DM; phasing of the GMT pupil; and solving the GMT’s “isolated island effect” will all be demonstrated on an optical testbed at the University of Arizona. Here we outline the current design for this “GMT High-Contrast Testbed” that has been proposed jointly by GMTO and the University of Arizona which leverages the existing, operational, MagAO-X ExAO instrument to verify our approach to phase sensing and AO control for high-contrast GMT NGS science. We will also highlight how GMagAO-X can be mounted on the auxiliary port of the GMT and so remain gravity invariant. Since it is gravity invariant GMagAO-X can utilize a floating optical table to minimize flexure and NCP vibrations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
StatePublished - 2019
Event6th International Conference on Adaptive Optics for Extremely Large Telescopes, AO4ELT 2019 - Quebec City, Canada
Duration: Jun 9 2019Jun 14 2019

Conference

Conference6th International Conference on Adaptive Optics for Extremely Large Telescopes, AO4ELT 2019
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityQuebec City
Period6/9/196/14/19

Keywords

  • Extreme AO
  • High-contrast imaging
  • Mechanics
  • Optics
  • Woofer-tweeter

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Space and Planetary Science
  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Instrumentation

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