Abstract
There is a great demand for new telescopes that use larger primary mirrors to collect more light. Because of the difficulty in the fabrication of mirrors larger than 8 m as a single piece, they must be made with numerous smaller segments. The segments must fit together to create the effect of a single mirror, which presents unique challenges for fabrication and testing that are absent for monolithic optics. This is especially true for the case of a highly aspheric mirror required to make a short two-mirror telescope. We develop the relationship between optical performance of the telescope and errors in the manufacture and operation of the individual segments.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2632-2642 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Applied optics |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 1 2004 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- Engineering (miscellaneous)
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering