Photonic Synthesis of Large Aperture Telescopes from Multi-Telescope Arrays

多望远镜阵列大口径望远镜的光子合成

• 批准号: 1446983
• 负责人: Stephen Eikenberry
• 金额: $ 11.29万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-15 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1446983&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Photonic; Synthesis; Large; Aperture; Telescopes

The central technological theme of modern astrophysical instrumentation is the development of ever larger telescopes, using larger-diameter mirrors to gather more and more light. More light-gathering power translates directly to sensitivity in studies of astrophysical phenomena. The largest visible-light telescopes in operation today are ten meters in diameter, and thirty-meter designs are being actively pursued. The cost of modern telescopes, however, increases much more quickly than the size of their main mirrors, so that ambitious increases in aperture have become almost prohibitively expense. The proposal to which this award is made approaches the problem of increasing astronomical light-gathering power in a different and highly innovative way. A single large aperture is replaced by a number of smaller telescopes whose light is brought to a common point by optical fibers.The general scale of cost savings anticipated with the concept proposed under this award is roughly a factor of ten over filled-aperture telescopes, possibly more. The demonstration system will be a module of four small telescopes that, taken together, are equivalent in light-gathering power to a single 0.7 meter telescope. The system will be coupled to the bHROS spectrograph, in collaboration with the ICATE institute in Argentina. This demonstration will retire the risk for the primary technologicalissues for the photonic-synthesis array approach, bringing this transformational technology into consideration as a cost-effective alternative to traditional construction methods for large advances in light-gathering power.This project will involve and train students in many aspects of the work. It also has potentially large broader impacts in that it may enable improved practical performance of a range of astronomical instrumentation, all of which will benefit from increased light-gathering power.Funding for this project is being provided by NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences through its Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation program.

现代天体物理仪器的中心技术主题是开发更大的望远镜，使用更大直径的镜子收集越来越多的光线。 更多的聚光能力直接转化为天体物理现象研究的灵敏度。 目前最大的可见光望远镜直径为10米，30米的设计正在积极进行中。 然而，现代望远镜的成本增长比其主镜的尺寸增长快得多，因此，雄心勃勃地增加孔径几乎成为令人望而却步的费用。 该奖项的提案以一种不同的、高度创新的方式解决了增加天文聚光能力的问题。 一个大口径望远镜被许多较小的望远镜所取代，这些望远镜的光线通过光纤被带到一个公共点。根据该奖项提出的概念，预计节省成本的一般规模大约是满口径望远镜的十倍，甚至更多。 演示系统将是一个由四个小型望远镜组成的模块，这些望远镜合在一起的聚光能力相当于一个0.7米的望远镜。该系统将与阿根廷的ICATE研究所合作，与bHROS光谱仪连接。 该演示将为光子合成阵列方法的主要技术问题带来风险，将这种转换技术视为传统建筑方法的成本效益替代方案，以实现聚光能力的巨大进步。该项目将涉及并培训学生多方面的工作。 它还具有潜在的更广泛的影响，因为它可以提高一系列天文仪器的实际性能，所有这些都将受益于增加的聚光能力。该项目的资金由NSF的天文科学部通过其先进技术和仪器计划提供。