SIGHT: A compact adaptive optics technology demonstrator for all-sky panchromatic optical/infrared spectroscopy

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This project will develop a technique to enhance large research telescopes by improving their sensitivity. Utilizing a laser source to probe Earth's ever-evolving atmosphere, the project will demonstrate a new way of correcting for atmospheric turbulence effects. Such effects are related to what people can see when they look at a star at night and see it constantly changing. To perform this correction, a novel optical element and algorithms will detect such changes quickly enough to allow for compensation in real time. Additionally, the system will be cooled to reduce background infrared radiation. These advantages will enhance the science for existing and new research telescopes.Sharpening Images using Guidestars at the Hale Telescope (SIGHT) is a laser guide star (LGS) adaptive optics (AO) demonstrator enabling panchromatic visible-to-infrared image compensation over the entire sky. SIGHT innovates by, demonstrating a novel high-dynamic-range Open loop LGS Optical Differentiator Wavefront Sensor (ODWFS), cooling an AO science relay to -30C for thermal background reduction, automating LGS observations on a 5-meter telescope, and demonstrating a compact optical design appropriate for many AO and spectrographic applications. Unlike prior LGS system, SIGHT will sharpen images over a large range of wavelengths, from the ultraviolet atmospheric cut-off to the near-IR. The system will optimize panchromatic spectrograph optical and operational efficiency, providing a factor of up to 4x speed advantage for visible observations of faint, compact objects. SIGHT thus addresses a need, to improve rapid, moderate-resolution classification of transient objects discovered with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and the Rubin Observatory using efficient spectrographs. Applying high-order wavefront corrections based on LGS sensing, SIGHT sharpens images significantly without needing a natural guide star (NGS) for tip-tilt correction. However, when an NGS is available, SIGHT performance is further improved. The applicability of these techniques to future multi-object spectrographs (MOS) and advance AO architectures for large telescopes will be demonstrated.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.