Abstract
The Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System (NAOS) was installed in December 2001 on the Nasmyth focus of the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT). It includes two wavefront sensors: one operates at IR wavelengths, the other at visible wavelengths. This paper describes the NAOS visible wavefront sensor based on a Shack-Hartmann principle. This wavefront sensor unit includes: 1) A continuous flow liquid nitrogen cryostat and a low noise fast readout CCD camera controlled by the ESO new generation CCD system FIERA using a fast frame rate EEV/Marconi CCD-50. This 128×128 pixels split frame transfer device has a readout noise of 3 ē at 50 Kpix/sec/port. FIERA provides remotely controlled readout modes with optional binning, windowing and flexible integration time. 2) Two remotely exchangeable micro-lens arrays (14×14 and 7×7 micro-lenses) cooled to the CCD temperature (−100 °C). The CCD array is directly located in the micro lenses focal plane, only a few millimeters apart without any relay optics. Additional opto-mechanical functions are also provided (atmospheric dispersion compensator, flux level control, field of view limitation). On-sky performances of the wavefront sensor are presented. Adaptive optics corrections were obtained with a reference star as faint as visible magnitude 17. The maximum achievable band-path is 35 Hz at 0 dB for the open loop transfer function.
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Office National ďEtudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Rousset, G., Lacombe, F., Puget, P., Gendron, E., Arsenault, R., Kern, P. Y., Rabaud, D., Madec, P., Hubin, N., Zins, G., Stadler, E., Charton, J., Gigan, P., Feautrier, P., 2000, Status of the VLT Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System (NAOS), Proc. SPIE Vol. 4007, p. 72.
Rousset, G., et al., 2002, The first AO system of the VLT: on-sky performance, SPIE proceedings, Astronomical Telescope and Instrumentation, 22–28 August 2002, Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA.
Lenzen, R., Hofmann, R., Bizenberger, P., 1998, CONICA: the high resolution NIR camera for the ESO VLT, Proc. SPIE Vol. 3354, p. 606.
Spanoudakis, P., Zago, L., Chetelat, O., Gentsch, R., Mato Mira, F., 2000, NAOS Field Selector, Proc. SPIE Vol. 4007, p. 408.
Cavadore, C., Dorn, R.J., 2000, Charged Coupled Devices at the European Southern Observatory Performances and results, Optical Detectors for Astronomy II: State-of-the-Art at the Turn of the Millenium, 4th ESO CCD Workshop, 1999, Garching, Germany, eds P. Amico and J. Beletic, p. 25.
Feautrier, P., Kern, P., Dorn, R. J., Rabou, P., Laurent, S., Lizon, J., Stadler, E., Magnard, Y., Rondeaux, O., Cochard, M., Rabaud, D., Delboulbe, A., Puget, P., Hubin, N., 2000, The NAOS visible wavefront sensor, Proc. SPIE Vol. 4007, p. 396.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2004 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Feautrier, P. et al. (2004). Performance and Results of the NAOS Visible Wavefront Sensor. In: Amico, P., Beletic, J.W., Beletic, J.E. (eds) Scientific Detectors for Astronomy. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 300. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2527-0_39
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2527-0_39
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-1788-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-2527-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive