Adaptive Optics for Large Telescopes

大型望远镜的自适应光学器件

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-05245
• 负责人: Hickson, Paul
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 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: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=588295
• 关键词: Adaptive; Optics; Large; Telescopes

The next-generation of extremely-large ground-based telescopes (ELTs) will provide a huge leap in scientific capability and discovery potential. With adaptive optics, these telescopes will provide three times the resolution and as much as 100 times the sensitivity of the current ground-based and space telescopes opening new frontiers in fields ranging from the study of extra-solar planetary systems to the first objects forming in the distant Universe. As a partner in the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Canadians will benefit directly from these advanced capabilities. Adaptive optics (AO), is key to the performance of all future large ground-based telescopes because it provides the means to cancel the blurring effect of atmospheric turbulence. Current AO systems are already providing impressive gains in resolution and sensitivity. The next-generation AO systems will require high-powered lasers and highly-sophisticated electromechanical and control systems. The lasers are used to illuminate sodium atoms in the upper atmosphere in order to produce artificial laser guide stars. These are used to sense the instantaneous distortion produced by the atmosphere, allowing the AO system to compensate for it. In developing these systems, it is essential to understand and characterize the distribution of sodium atoms. By equipping the 6-metre Large Zenith Telescope (LZT) with a pulsed laser and sensitive detector system, we have developed a sodium lidar (laser radar) system that produces data of unprecedented resolution and quality. I will use this facility to study and better understand the structure and dynamics of this important region of the atmosphere, and provide critical data that are needed for the design of the adaptive optics systems for extremely large telescopes. The LZT lidar facility also provides a unique opportunity to support the development of the AO lasers needed by the ELT projects. Such lasers must meet exacting requirements of power, beam quality, stability and efficiency. Their development requires an ongoing program of testing, evaluation and verification. At the LZT lidar facility, we are able to accurately measure properties of the laser and its launch telescope, such as the brightness and sharpness of the laser guide star. At the same time, the lidar provides simultaneous information about the abundance and distribution of sodium atoms. This allows the efficiency of the laser to be determined. This research program will support testing not only of lasers being considered for the TMT, but also for the European ELT. Canadians are participating, with the Université de Liège in Belgium and the Arayabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences in India, in a project to place a dedicated survey telescope at a Devesthal Peak in the Himalayas. The International Liquid-Mirror Telescope is a zenith-pointing 4-m telescope equipped with a 16-megapixel imaging camera. It will survey the strip of sky passing overhead night after night, searching for transient events such as supernovae and monitoring the variability of gravitational lenses. The design of the ILMT draws upon Canadian technology developed at the Université Laval and UBC and perfected with the LZT. I plan to assist with the commissioning and testing of the ILMT and participate in its scientific programs.

下一代超大型地基望远镜（ELT）将带来科学能力和发现潜力的巨大飞跃。凭借自适应光学器件，这些望远镜将提供目前地面和太空望远镜三倍的分辨率和高达 100 倍的灵敏度，从而在从太阳系外行星系统的研究到遥远宇宙中第一个物体形成的研究等领域开辟新的前沿。作为三十米望远镜（TMT）的合作伙伴，加拿大人将直接受益于这些先进功能。 自适应光学 (AO) 是未来所有大型地面望远镜性能的关键，因为它提供了消除大气湍流模糊效应的方法。当前的 AO 系统已经在分辨率和灵敏度方面取得了令人瞩目的进步。下一代 AO 系统将需要高功率激光器以及高度复杂的机电和控制系统。激光器用于照射高层大气中的钠原子，以产生人造激光导星。它们用于感测大气产生的瞬时失真，使 AO 系统能够对其进行补偿。在开发这些系统时，了解和表征钠原子的分布至关重要。通过为 6 米大型天顶望远镜 (LZT) 配备脉冲激光和灵敏探测器系统，我们开发了钠激光雷达（激光雷达）系统，可产生前所未有的分辨率和质量的数据。我将利用这个设施来研究和更好地了解这一重要大气区域的结构和动力学，并提供设计超大望远镜自适应光学系统所需的关键数据。 LZT 激光雷达设施还提供了独特的机会来支持 ELT 项目所需的 AO 激光器的开发。此类激光器必须满足功率、光束质量、稳定性和效率的严格要求。它们的开发需要持续的测试、评估和验证计划。在 LZT 激光雷达设施中，我们能够准确测量激光及其发射望远镜的特性，例如激光导星的亮度和清晰度。同时，激光雷达同时提供有关钠原子丰度和分布的信息。这使得可以确定激光器的效率。该研究计划不仅支持 TMT 以及欧洲 ELT 的激光器测试。 加拿大人正在与比利时列日大学和印度阿拉亚巴塔观测科学研究所一起参与一个项目，在喜马拉雅山的德维斯塔尔峰放置一台专用观测望远镜。国际液体镜望远镜是一台指向天顶的 4 米望远镜，配备有 16 兆像素成像相机。它将夜复一夜地观测从头顶掠过的天空带，寻找超新星等瞬态事件，并监测引力透镜的变化。 ILMT 的设计借鉴了拉瓦尔大学和 UBC 开发的加拿大技术，并通过 LZT 进行了完善。我计划协助 ILMT 的调试和测试并参与其科学项目。