Performance and control of the MMT thermal system

G. G. Williams, J. D. Gibson, S. Callahan, D. Blanco, J. T. Williams, P. Spencer

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present results from a study of the performance of the MMT thermal system. The 6.5-m MMT primary mirror consists of a borosilicate honeycomb structure that is thermally controlled with a forced-air ventilation system. We will give an overview of both the measurement and control systems. Our goal is to define an algorithm for control of the ventilation system such that the primary mirror temperature closely tracks ambient while minimizing thermal gradients. Future work will include a study of correlations between the thermal state of the primary mirror and both seeing and wavefront errors. The thermal system is currently controlled by the telescope operators, but the results from this work will assist in fully automating the system.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)938-949
Number of pages12
JournalProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume5489
Issue numberPART 2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2004
Externally publishedYes
EventGround-based Telescopes - Glasgow, United Kingdom
Duration: Jun 21 2004Jun 25 2004

Keywords

  • MMT
  • Thermal control
  • Ventilation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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