Verifying the pointing error budget of the MeerKAT+ telescopes using a mounted optical telescope

Tobias Glaubach; Daniel Bok; Rafael Castenholz; Niclas Esser; Steffen Hartmann; Stefan Heyminck; Alexei Ippa; Christian Leinz; Stefan Thoms; Martin Timpe; Tobias Winchen; Gundolf Wieching

doi:10.1117/12.3018883

24 August 2024 Verifying the pointing error budget of the MeerKAT+ telescopes using a mounted optical telescope

Tobias Glaubach, Daniel Bok, Rafael Castenholz, Niclas Esser, Steffen Hartmann, Stefan Heyminck, Alexei Ippa, Christian Leinz, Stefan Thoms, Martin Timpe, Tobias Winchen, Gundolf Wieching

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13099, Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy XI; 130992A (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018883
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Conference Poster

Abstract

The MeerKAT+ project will extend the current MeerKAT Radio Telescope Array at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) site in the Karoo region of South Africa. In this paper we present the developed methodology, instrumentation, and the current status for verifying the pointing accuracy of a single array telescope using an optical pointing telescope and a detailed Pointing Error Budget (PEB) of the radio telescope structure. We will focus on a description of the developed instrumentation, the measurement software, the testing procedures, the measurement plan based upon them, and the applied steps for data processing and analysis. The obtained results are then correlated directly to the PEB. Furthermore, we relate the acquired results from optical pointing tests to some early radio frequency pointing tests and conclude with a discussion.

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Tobias Glaubach, Daniel Bok, Rafael Castenholz, Niclas Esser, Steffen Hartmann, Stefan Heyminck, Alexei Ippa, Christian Leinz, Stefan Thoms, Martin Timpe, Tobias Winchen, and Gundolf Wieching "Verifying the pointing error budget of the MeerKAT+ telescopes using a mounted optical telescope", Proc. SPIE 13099, Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy XI, 130992A (24 August 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018883

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