SHARK-NIR, toward the end of the construction phase

Jacopo Farinato, Maria Bergomi, Andrea Bianco, Federico Biondi, Elena Carolo, Alexis Carlotti, Simonetta Chinellato, Marco De Pascale, Marco Dima, Valentina D’Orazi, Davide Greggio, Philip Hinz, Luigi Lessio, Luca Marafatto, Dino Mesa, Lars Mohr, Manny Montoya, Gabriele Umbriaco, Daniele Vassallo, Valentina ViottoAlessio Zanutta, Simone Antoniucci, Carmelo Arcidiacono, Francesca Bacciotti, Carlo Baffa, Andrea Baruffolo, Angela Bongiorno, Laird Close, Simone Di Filippo, Simone Esposito, Giancarlo Farisato, Olivier Guyon, Demetrio Magrin, Fernando Pedichini, Enrico Pinna, Elisa Portaluri, Alfio Puglisi, Kalyan Kumar Radhakrishnan Santhakumari, Roberto Ragazzoni, Fabio Rossi, Marco Stangalini

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

Both Sharks (NIR and VIS) are undergoing the construction phase, and they are getting close to the moment in which they will be installed at the Large Binocular Telescope, one for each arm. They are conceived to make binocular coronagraphic observations, trying to catch planets also in close synergy with LBTI, used in coronagraphic fashion too. SHARK-NIR operates in Y-J-H bands and together with SHARK-VIS, covering the visible bandwidth, and LMIRCam, operating from K to M bands, will allow simultaneous observations from V to M band. The upgrade of the LBT AO systems to SOUL will push the extreme strehl regime to fainter magnitude, opening to science not fully covered with similar instruments, both in the number of targets to be studied looking for planets and for other very interesting science topics: jets and disks targets will increase quite a lot and AGN and QSO may become an interesting extragalactic topic to be studied due to the increased AO performance in the faint end regime. SHARK-NIR can operate in direct imaging, coronagraphic imaging, dual band coronagraphic imaging and low resolution spectroscopic mode. A number of coronagraphic techniques have been studied for possible implementation, and Gaussian Lyot, Shaped Pupil and Four Quadrant have been initially selected for implementation, even if there is room to upgrade to other techniques. The instrument has a couple of peculiar features, such as a fast internal TT loop to minimize the residual jitter and a local NCPA correction, performed through a DM inside the instrument itself. We report here about the SHARK-NIR status, which is in the AIV phase, that should finish by the end of the year, bringing in this way the first photons to the instrument in 2020.

Original languageEnglish (US)
StatePublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes
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

  • Adaptive secondary
  • Coronagraphy
  • Extreme adaptive optics
  • Large binocular telescope
  • Planet finding
  • Pyramid sensor

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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