A new 30 cm three-reflection telescope for wide-field Astronomy on the Antarctic Plateau

Domenico Nanni; Roberto F Viotti; M. Badiali; Andrea M. Di Lellis; Marc Ferrari

doi:10.1117/12.456704

16 December 2002 A new 30 cm three-reflection telescope for wide-field Astronomy on the Antarctic Plateau

Domenico Nanni, Roberto F Viotti, M. Badiali, Andrea M. Di Lellis, Marc Ferrari

Proceedings Volume 4835, Future Research Direction and Visions for Astronomy; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.456704
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

We describe a new three-reflection telescope (TRT) prototype, where the 30-cm primary mirror is acting as the first and the third reflecting surfaces with different figurings. The two surfaces were realized and polished separately, and then accurately aligned and glued together. This technique has added more flexibility to the original design. The telescope provides: wide (2°x2° square degrees) corrected and unvignetted field of view, flat-field focal surface, small encumbrance, and easy access to the focal plane instrumentation. These characteristics make the TRT in combination with large area CCD cameras, a useful instrument for wide-field observations from remote and hostile ground sites, such as the Antarctic Plateau. The prototype has been equipped with a 2kx2k thermoelectric cooled CCD camera using the San Diego State University SDSU controller. A second custom controller prototype has been developed for ongoing space and Antarctica applications, characterized by synchronous fast readout capabilities (two 14-bit channels each sampled at 3.3 Msamples/s) and suitable to be scaled to large array mosaic applications. This project is aimed at the discovery and tracking of potentially hazardous NEOs, and identification of transient events such as GRBs.

Citation Download Citation

Domenico Nanni, Roberto F Viotti, M. Badiali, Andrea M. Di Lellis, and Marc Ferrari "A new 30 cm three-reflection telescope for wide-field Astronomy on the Antarctic Plateau", Proc. SPIE 4835, Future Research Direction and Visions for Astronomy, (16 December 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.456704

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