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Adaptive optics for Extremely Large Telescopes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2006

Norbert Hubin
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany email: nhubin@eso.org
Brent L. Ellerbroek
Affiliation:
Thirty Meter Telescope Project, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA email: brente@caltech.edu
Robin Arsenault
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany email: nhubin@eso.org
Richard M. Clare
Affiliation:
Thirty Meter Telescope Project, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA email: brente@caltech.edu
Richard Dekany
Affiliation:
Caltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA email: rgd@astro.caltech.edu
Luc Gilles
Affiliation:
Thirty Meter Telescope Project, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA email: brente@caltech.edu
Markus Kasper
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany email: nhubin@eso.org
Glen Herriot
Affiliation:
Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria BC, V9E 2E7, Canada email: jean-pierre.veran@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Miska Le Louarn
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany email: nhubin@eso.org
Enrico Marchetti
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany email: nhubin@eso.org
Sylvain Oberti
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany email: nhubin@eso.org
Jeff Stoesz
Affiliation:
Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria BC, V9E 2E7, Canada email: jean-pierre.veran@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Jean Pierre Veran
Affiliation:
Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria BC, V9E 2E7, Canada email: jean-pierre.veran@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Christophe Vérinaud
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany email: nhubin@eso.org
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Abstract

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Adaptive Optics (AO) will be essential for accomplishing many, if not most, of the science objectives currently planned for Extremely Large Telescopes including GMT, OWL, and TMT. AO will be needed to support a range of instrumentation, including near infrared (IR) imagers and spectrometers, mid IR imagers and spectrometers, “planet finding” instrumentation and wide-field optical spectrographs. Multiple advanced AO systems, utilizing the full range of concepts currently under development, will need to be combined into an integrated architecture to meet a broad range of requirements for field-of-view, spatial resolution and spectral bandpass.

In this paper, we describe several of the possible options for these systems and outline the range of issues, trade studies and component development activities which must be addressed. Some of these challenges include very high-order, large-stroke wavefront correction, tip-tilt sensing with faint natural guide stars to maximize sky coverage, laser guide star wavefront sensing on a very large aperture and achieving extremely high contrast ratios for the detection of extra-solar planet and other faint companions of nearby bright stars.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
2006 International Astronomical Union