AOLI: Near-diffraction limited imaging in the visible on large ground -based telescopes


Type
Conference Object
Change log
Authors
Mackay, Craig 
Rebolo, Rafael 
King, David L 
Labadie, Lucas 
Puga Antolin, Marta 
Abstract

The combination of Lucky Imaging with a low order adaptive optics system was demonstrated very successfully on the Palomar 5m telescope nearly 10 years ago. It is still the only system to give such high-resolution images in the visible or near infrared on ground-based telescope of faint astronomical targets. The development of AOLI for deployment initially on the WHT 4.2 m telescope in La Palma, Canary Islands, will be described in this paper. In particular, we will look at the design and status of our low order curvature wavefront sensor which has been somewhat simplified to make it more efficient, ensuring coverage over much of the sky with natural guide stars as reference object. AOLI uses optically butted electron multiplying CCDs to give an imaging array of 2000 x 2000 pixels.

Description
Keywords
Lucky Imaging, adaptive optics, Charge coupled devices, EMCCDs, curvature wavefront sensors
Journal Title
GROUND-BASED AND AIRBORNE INSTRUMENTATION FOR ASTRONOMY VI
Conference Name
SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation
Journal ISSN
0277-786X
1996-756X
Volume Title
9908
Publisher
SPIE
Sponsorship
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/K002368/1)
Science and Technology Facilities Council