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The AIP In-kind contribution to the LBT |
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As part of the AIP contribution to the LBT Project it has been agreed
that the AIP will deliver two Acquisition, Guiding, and Wavefront
sensing units (AGW units) for the telescope. The AGW units are each divided into two sub-units, the Off-axis and the On-axis units. |
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The Off-axis units |
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The Off-axis units will allow the telescope to
position the scientific target in an accurately defined position so
the instruments can perform their measurements of the object. They will
also allow the telescope to maintain this optimum position as time passes
and the object moves in the sky due to the rotation of the Earth.
The units will also allow the accurate measurement of the
current shape and alignment of the main mirrors of the telescope so
the best possible performance of the telescope is continously ensured. We have a series of pictures available of the progress of the manufacture and testing of the Off-axis unit on our Image Gallery web page. |
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The On-axis units |
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The On-axis units will perform real time measurements of the incoming
wavefront and this constitute the adaptive optics sensor for the telescope.
The unit will observe the light and the wavefront from a star close
(closer than approximately 20'') to the scientific target in the sky using
a so called ''pyramid sensor''. The signals from the pyramid sensor will
allow to close a servo-loop with the LBT secondary mirror which is a
fully adaptive mirror with 672 voice coil actuators distributed over its
91cm diameter rear surface. The servo loop will run a several hundred Hertz and
allow a good compensation for the atmospheric disturbance of the wavefront,
and the telescope will be able to produce diffraction limited images in
the near-IR, and later maybe even in the red part of the optical spectrum. |
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