MRI: Development of Adaptive Optics Upgrade for the CHARA Array - Phase II

MRI：CHARA 阵列自适应光学升级的开发 - 第二阶段

• 批准号: 1531856
• 负责人: Theo ten Brummelaar
• 金额: $ 111.85万
• 依托单位: Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1531856&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Development; Adaptive; Optics; Upgrade

On the summit of Mt. Wilson overlooking Los Angeles sits a Y-shaped array of six 1-m aperture telescopes. Unlike telescopes located on other mountaintops, these six are not used independently of each other, but are instead used in unison to effectively form a single larger telescope, an interferometric array, in which the optical and near-infrared light from each of the telescopes is combined with the light from its neighbors. Operation of the six 1-m telescopes as an interferometric array results in the ability to detect finer details (spatial resolution) in astronomical sources than would be possible if the 1-m telescopes were utilized individually. With physical separations between the six 1-m telescopes ranging from 33 to 331 meters, spatial resolutions better than 1 milliarcsecond are achieved. This far exceeds the resolution of the largest ground-based and orbiting telescopes, and is even an order of magnitude better than will be possible with the extremely large telescopes (ELTs) currently under development. Since construction of the Mt. Wilson array was completed in 2005 by Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA), the Mt. Wilson interferometric array has yielded the first direct detection of gravity darkening on a single star, the first angular diameter for a halo population star, the first image of a single, main-sequence star, the first direct image of an interacting binary, and first images of the expanding fireball around a nova just 15 hours after its discovery. The funded work will significantly improve the interferometric array's ability to detect faint targets (sensitivity) and scientific throughput by completing an adaptive optics upgrade for each of the six 1-m telescopes. The sensitivity will be improved by 0.5 to 3 magnitudes, depending on the seeing conditions, and the scientific throughput will be enhanced by a factor of 3-5. Access to the Mt. Wilson interferometer is afforded to consortium members but also to the general astronomical community through an open allocation process managed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). Through the array, CHARA is training the next generation of scientific and technical experts in the field of interferometry, and scientific results emerging from the facility are incorporated in undergraduate courses as well as public outreach activities. Funding for completing the Mt. Wilson optical/near-IR interferometer upgrade is being provided through the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program of the NSF.The funded work will complete the first major facility upgrade of the CHARA array since initial construction. Georgia State's Dr. T. ten Brummelaar and collaborators have carefully considered the most cost-effective approaches to enhance the sensitivity of the instrument. The principal goal of the funded work is to add deformable mirrors (DM) to each of the six 1-m telescopes, completing the development and implementation of full, fast AO capabilities at each telescope. Together, these modifications should yield sensitivity increases 0.5 to 3 magnitudes at H band, and increase the number of nights of high-quality data by about a factor of 3 in the summer and 5 in the winter, with the integration time required to reach a specific SNR reduced by a factor of up to 3. New important areas of study include the study of highly reddened targets such debris disks around young stars, T-Tauri disks, and accretion flows onto YSOs.

在威尔逊山的山顶上，俯瞰洛杉矶的山顶是六个1-m的远程望远镜的Y形阵列。与位于其他山顶上的望远镜不同，这六个不是彼此独立使用，而是一致地使用了一个较大的望远镜，即一个较大的望远镜，即一个干涉阵列，其中每个望远镜的光学和近红外光与邻居的光相结合。六个1-m望远镜作为干涉阵列的操作可以使在天文来源中检测更细节（空间分辨率）的能力，如果单独使用1-M望远镜，则可以检测到可能的能力。六个1-m望远镜之间的物理分离范围为33至331米，空间分辨率比1毫米秒更好。这远远超过了最大的地面和轨道望远镜的分辨率，甚至比目前正在开发的极大望远镜（ELT）的数量级要好得多。由于佐治亚州立大学高角度分辨率天文学中心（CHARA）于2005年完成威尔逊阵列的建设以来，威尔逊山的干涉阵列首次直接检测到引力在单个恒星上的重力变暗，这是单个角色直径的首次角色直径，这是晕圈的第一张，是单次散热器的第一张图像。发现仅15个小时后的Nova。资助的工作将显着提高干涉阵列通过完成六个1 m望远镜中的每一个的自适应光学升级，从而检测到微弱目标（灵敏度）和科学吞吐量的能力。根据观察条件的不同，灵敏度将提高0.5至3个幅度，并且科学吞吐量将增强3-5倍。 通过由国家光学天文台（NOAO）管理的开放分配过程（NOAO）管理的一般天文学社区，也可以访问Wilson山的干涉仪。通过阵列，Chara正在培训干涉测量领域的下一代科学和技术专家，该设施中出现的科学成果纳入了本科课程以及公共外展活动。通过NSF的主要研究仪器（MRI）计划提供了完成Wilson Mt. Wilson Mt. Wilson Mt.的资金。自初始构造以来，资助的工作将完成Chara阵列的第一个主要设施升级。佐治亚州立大学的T. Ten Brummelaar博士和合作者仔细考虑了增强乐器敏感性的最具成本效益的方法。资助工作的主要目标是在六个1-M望远镜中的每个望远镜中添加可变形的镜子（DM），以完成每个望远镜的完整，快速AO功能的开发和实施。 Together, these modifications should yield sensitivity increases 0.5 to 3 magnitudes at H band, and increase the number of nights of high-quality data by about a factor of 3 in the summer and 5 in the winter, with the integration time required to reach a specific SNR reduced by a factor of up to 3. New important areas of study include the study of highly reddened targets such debris disks around young stars, T-Tauri disks, and accretion flows onto YSOs.