AOLI: Adaptive Optics plus Lucky Imager for the WHT (4.2m) and GTC (10.5m) Telescopes.

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The highest resolution images of faint targets ever taken in the visible or near infrared were obtained by combining Lucky Imaging with low order adaptive optics. This proposal is to develop further the technologies needed for an innovative approach to wavefront sensing that will allow dramatically fainter reference stars to be used than with conventional Shack-Hartmann sensors. These will be incorporated in an instrument to be used initially on the WHT 4.2 m with the potential to move to the GTC 10 meter telescope on La Palma. Using only faint natural guide stars, angular resolution as good as 15 milliarcseconds in the GTC and 40 milliarcseconds on the WHT in I-band will be obtained over a substantial fraction of the northern sky. The instrument is part of a collaboration led by the Institute of Astronomy of the University of Cambridge, with the IAC (La Laguna), UPCT (Cartagena), University of Cologne and the staff of the ING (La Palma). This project is central to the aims and aspirations of the STFC science program for astronomy. It also supports the strongly expressed wish to integrate activities of the ING with those of the IAC/GranteCan telescope on La Palma. The project builds on several exciting new technologies that have made great strides over the last year in Cambridge. In particular, much higher selection percentages are now achieved without loss of resolution. The instrument proposed here will start as a visitor instrument permanently resident on the island, with the medium-term goal of transitioning to a common user facility for use on the two La Palma telescopes. The instrument first light on the WHT will be ~18 months after kick-off and fully operational by the end of 3 years. The costs will be shared between the UK and collaborators in Spain and Germany. This proposal is for a total of £138K from STFC (£167K FEC) including components, travel and salaries. The entire project is expected to cost in the region of £1.5 million.