MAD: the ESO multiconjugate adaptive optics demonstrator

Enrico Marchetti; Norbert N. Hubin; Enrico Fedrigo; Joar Brynnel; Bernard Delabre; Robert Donaldson; Francis Franza; Rodolphe Conan; Miska Le Louarn; Cyril Cavadore; Andrea Balestra; Dietrich Baade; Jean-Luis Lizon; Roberto Gilmozzi; Guy J. Monnet; Roberto Ragazzoni; Carmelo Arcidiacono; Andrea Baruffolo; Emiliano Diolaiti; Jacopo Farinato; Elise Vernet-Viard; David James Butler; Stefan Hippler; Antonio Amorin

doi:10.1117/12.458859

7 February 2003 MAD the ESO multi-conjugate adaptive optics demonstrator

Enrico Marchetti, Norbert N. Hubin, Enrico Fedrigo, Joar Brynnel, Bernard Delabre, Robert Donaldson, Francis Franza, Rodolphe Conan, Miska Le Louarn, Cyril Cavadore, Andrea Balestra, Dietrich Baade, Jean-Luis Lizon, Roberto Gilmozzi, Guy J. Monnet, Roberto Ragazzoni, Carmelo Arcidiacono, Andrea Baruffolo, Emiliano Diolaiti, Jacopo Farinato, Elise Vernet-Viard, David James Butler, Stefan Hippler, Antonio Amorin

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4839, Adaptive Optical System Technologies II; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.458859
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) is working on the principle to perform wide field of view atmospheric turbulence correction using many Guide Stars located in and/or surrounding the observed target. The vertical distribution of the atmospheric turbulence is reconstructed by observing several guide stars and the correction is applied by some deformable mirrors optically conjugated at different altitudes above the telescope. The European Southern Observatory together with external research institutions is going to build a Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) to perform wide field of view adaptive optics correction. The aim of MAD is to demonstrate on the sky the feasibility of the MCAO technique and to evaluate all the critical aspects in building such kind of instrument in the framework of both the 2nd generation VLT instrumentation and the 100-m telescope OWL. In this paper we present the conceptual design of the MAD module that will be installed at one of the VLT unit telescope in Paranal to perform on-sky observations. MAD is based on a two deformable mirrors correction system and on two multi-reference wavefront sensors capable to observe simultaneously some pre-selected configurations of Natural Guide Stars. MAD is expected to correct up to 2 arcmin field of view in K band.

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Enrico Marchetti, Norbert N. Hubin, Enrico Fedrigo, Joar Brynnel, Bernard Delabre, Robert Donaldson, Francis Franza, Rodolphe Conan, Miska Le Louarn, Cyril Cavadore, Andrea Balestra, Dietrich Baade, Jean-Luis Lizon, Roberto Gilmozzi, Guy J. Monnet, Roberto Ragazzoni, Carmelo Arcidiacono, Andrea Baruffolo, Emiliano Diolaiti, Jacopo Farinato, Elise Vernet-Viard, David James Butler, Stefan Hippler, and Antonio Amorin "MAD the ESO multi-conjugate adaptive optics demonstrator", Proc. SPIE 4839, Adaptive Optical System Technologies II, (7 February 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.458859

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