A suggested 12-m telescope optical system configuration for China

This is an optical/infrared telescope. It is a general purpose telescope. A segmented primary mirror is adopted with diameter 12 m and f-ratio 1.6. This telescope has prime focus, Cassegrain, Nasmyth and coude systems. The prime focus system has a 1 ...5 field-of-view corrector with excellent image...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inMonthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 460; no. 2; p. 2286
Main Authors Su, Ding-qiang, Liang, Ming, Yuan, Xiangyan, Bai, Hua, Cui, Xiangqun
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Oxford University Press 01.08.2016
Subjects
Adaptive optics
Astronomy
Exchange
Image quality
Infrared imaging systems
Infrared telescopes
Optics
Secondary mirrors
Space telescopes
Spectrographs
Spectrum analysis
Symbols
Telescopes
China, People's Rep
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:This is an optical/infrared telescope. It is a general purpose telescope. A segmented primary mirror is adopted with diameter 12 m and f-ratio 1.6. This telescope has prime focus, Cassegrain, Nasmyth and coude systems. The prime focus system has a 1 ...5 field-of-view corrector with excellent image quality. It will be used for multi-object fibre spectroscopic observation and CCD photography. In this 12-m telescope, all systems except the prime focus system share the same secondary mirror; the Nasmyth and coude systems are formed by adding relay mirrors; and the method of moving a secondary mirror is used to enhance image quality. All these features originate from the innovative optical system of the Chinese 2.16-m telescope. At the Cassegrain focus, a dark object spectrograph, for example, can be installed without any corrector; and in case a field of view is needed, a corrector may be added. Both the Nasmyth and coude systems have exceptionally excellent image quality and the exchange between them occurs very conveniently. Many instruments in visible and infrared wavebands, some with an adaptive optics system, will be installed at the Nasmyth platform. Coude system will be used for interferometry and for those instruments which require high stability. This configuration has a nearly full range of systems but it is not complex, and it can even be adopted by 20-40-m class telescopes. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stw1064