Laser-guide-star system for astronomical applications

With computational techniques developed in the investigation of high-energy laser-beam-control systems, a set of concise analytic models describing the essential properties of a laser-guide-star phase-conjugation system has been assembled. With the aid of these models an optimization strategy for mating adaptive optics to a 4-m-class optical telescope is evolved, and it is shown that such a system might be expected to improve the effective atmospheric seeing conditions by nearly a factor of 10 within the isoplanatic patch of the turbulence probe. For operation at visible wavelengths, a compensation system having ~300 actuators and a closed-loop bandwidth of 20 Hz is recommended. All the key hardware components have already been built and tested, with the exception of a suitable laser source for high-repetition-rate illumination of the Earth’s sodium layer.

[1]  D. Fried.  Limiting Resolution Looking Down Through the Atmosphere , 1966 .

[2]  Harold T. Yura,et al.  Short-term average optical-beam spread in a turbulent medium , 1973 .

[3]  J. Bufton,et al.  Comparison of vertical profile turbulence structure with stellar observations. , 1973, Applied optics.

[4]  David L. Fried,et al.  Power spectra requirements for wave-front-compensative systems* , 1976 .

[5]  David L. Fried,et al.  Least-square fitting a wave-front distortion estimate to an array of phase-difference measurements , 1977 .

[6]  R. Hudgin.  Wave-front reconstruction for compensated imaging , 1977 .

[7]  R. Hudgin.  Wave-front compensation error due to finite corrector-element size , 1977 .

[8]  Darryl P. Greenwood,et al.  Bandwidth specification for adaptive optics systems , 1977 .

[9]  James E. Harvey,et al.  Wavefront Error Compensation Capabilities Of Multi-Actuator Deformable Mirrors , 1978, Other Conferences.

[10]  J. W. Hardy,et al.  Active optics: A new technology for the control of light , 1978, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[11]  Darryl P. Greenwood,et al.  Mutual coherence function of a wave front corrected by zonal adaptive optics , 1979 .

[12]  J. Herrmann,et al.  Least-squares wave front errors of minimum norm , 1980 .

[13]  D. Fried,et al.  Image-position error associated with a quadrant detector , 1982 .

[14]  Antoine Labeyrie,et al.  Feasibility of adaptive telescope with laser probe , 1985 .

[15]  Richard J. Sasiela,et al.  An Optical Phase Reconstructor Based On Using A Multiplier-Accumulator Approach , 1986, Other Conferences.

[16]  Chester S. Gardner,et al.  Experiments on laser guide stars at Mauna Kea Observatory for adaptive imaging in astronomy , 1987, Nature.

[17]  F Roddier,et al.  Curvature sensing and compensation: a new concept in adaptive optics. , 1988, Applied optics.

[18]  Chester S. Gardner,et al.  Effects Of Nonlinear Resonant Absorption On Sodium Laser Guide Stars , 1989, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[19]  Chester S. Gardner,et al.  Sodium Laser Guide Star Technique For Adaptive Imaging In Astronomy , 1989, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[20]  Chester S. Gardner,et al.  Performance analysis of adaptive-optics systems using laser guide stars and slope sensors. , 1989 .

[21]  Norbert Hubin,et al.  Atlas Experiment To Test The Laser Probe Technique For Wavefront Measurements , 1989, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[22]  A. A. Brailove,et al.  Sum frequency generation of sodium resonance radiation. , 1989, Applied optics.

[23]  B. Welsh,et al.  Nonlinear resonant absorption effects on the design of resonance fluorescence lidars and laser guide stars. , 1989, Applied optics.

[24]  Chester S. Gardner,et al.  Excimer Laser Guide Star Techniques For Adaptive Imaging In Astronomy , 1989, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[25]  Lennox L. Cowie,et al.  Seeing at Mauna Kea: a joint UH-UN-NOAO-CFHT study , 1990, Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation.

[26]  R. Reich,et al.  Advanced CCD imager technology for use from 1 to 10 000 Å , 1990 .

[27]  B. Welsh,et al.  Design and performance analysis of adaptive optical telescopes using lasing guide stars , 1990, Proc. IEEE.

[28]  D. V. Murphy,et al.  Experimental demonstration of atmospheric compensation using multiple synthetic beacons. , 1991, Optics letters.

[29]  C. A. Primmerman,et al.  Atmospheric-turbulence measurements using a synthetic beacon in the mesospheric sodium layer. , 1991, Optics letters.

[30]  Chester S. Gardner,et al.  Effects of turbulence-induced anisoplanatism on the imaging performance of adaptive-astronomical telescopes using laser guide stars , 1991 .

[31]  Daniel V. Murphy,et al.  Compensation of atmospheric optical distortion using a synthetic beacon , 1991, Nature.

[32]  W. O. Saxton,et al.  Measurement of the Transverse Electric Field Profile of Light by a Self-referencing Method with Direct Phase Determination References and Links " Measurement of Atmospheric Wavefront Distortion Using Scattered Light from a Laser Guide-star, " , 2022 .

[33]  F. Roddier,et al.  A SIMPLE LOW-ORDER ADAPTIVE OPTICS SYSTEM FOR NEAR-INFRARED APPLICATIONS , 1991 .

[34]  David G. Sandler,et al.  Real-time wavefront reconstruction for a 512 subaperture adaptive optical system , 1992, Other Conferences.

[35]  J. D. Shelton,et al.  Transverse spectral filtering and Mellin transform techniques applied to the effect of outer scale on tilt and tilt anisoplanatism , 1993 .

[36]  G. Tyler.  Bandwidth considerations for tracking through turbulence , 1994 .

[37]  Richard J. Sasiela,et al.  Wave-front correction by one or more synthetic beacons , 1994 .