Optical technologies for extremely-large telescopes

超大望远镜的光学技术

• 批准号: 8275-2009
• 负责人: Hickson, Paul
• 金额: $ 1.97万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2012-01-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=497440
• 关键词: Optical; technologies; extremely; large; telescopes

Future advances in our knowledge of the Universe will require new powerful telescopes on Earth and in space, with a resolution and sensitivity 10 to 100 times greater than present facilities. These telescopes, now being designed by astronomers and engineers worldwide, will achieve their power by a combination of large aperture and advanced technologies. One of these technologies, adaptive optics, is key to all future large ground-based telescopes because it can largely correct for the blurring effect of turbulence in the atmosphere. Next-generation AO systems will require high-powered lasers and sophisticated computer-controlled deformable mirrors. The lasers are used to illuminate sodium atoms, deposited by meteors in the upper atmosphere, in order to produce artificial "reference stars". The light from these sodium "stars" is needed to measure, and then correct for, the turbulence. To design these systems, we must first understand the structure of Earth's sodium layer. By combining a 6-metre liquid-mirror telescope with a sophisticated laser and detector system, my team has developed a sodium lidar (laser radar) that produces data of unsurpassed quality. My students and I will use this facility to study and better understand the structure and dynamics of this important region of the atmosphere, and provide knowledge essential for the development of extremely large telescopes.

未来对宇宙知识的进步将需要地球和太空中新的强大望远镜，分辨率和灵敏度比目前的设施高10至100倍。 这些望远镜现在是由全球天文学家和工程师设计的，将通过大型孔径和先进技术的结合来实现其力量。这些技术之一，即自适应光学，是所有未来大型地面望远镜的关键，因为它在很大程度上可以纠正大气中湍流的模糊效果。下一代AO系统将需要高功率激光器和复杂的计算机控制的可变形镜。这些激光器用于照亮钠原子，该原子由流星沉积在上层大气中，以产生人工“参考星”。需要这些钠“恒星”的光来测量，然后校正湍流。要设计这些系统，我们必须首先了解地球钠层的结构。通过将6米的液体液体望远镜与复杂的激光和探测器系统相结合，我的团队开发了一个钠激光钠（激光雷达），该钠激光雷达（激光雷达）产生了无与伦比的质量数据。我和我的学生将使用此设施来研究并更好地了解大气层这个重要区域的结构和动态，并为开发极大的望远镜提供必不可少的知识。