Performance prediction of the LSST secondary mirror

Myung K. Cho; Ming Liang; Douglas R. Neill

doi:10.1117/12.823716

10 September 2009 Performance prediction of the LSST secondary mirror

Myung K. Cho, Ming Liang, Douglas R. Neill

Proceedings Volume 7424, Advances in Optomechanics; 742407 (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.823716
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2009, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is an 8.4 meter telescope with a field of view of 10 square degrees. This telescope will be capable of mapping the entire visible sky every few nights via sequential 15-second exposures, opening new windows on the universe from dark energy to time variable objects. The LSST optics calls for an annular 3.5 m diameter Secondary Mirror (M2), which is a large meniscus convex asphere (ellipse). The M2 converts the beam reflected from the f/1.2 primary mirror into a beam for the f/0.83 Tertiary Mirror (M3). The M2 has a mass of approximately 1.5 metric tons and the mirror support system will need to maintain the mirror figure at different gravity orientations. The optical performance evaluations were made based on the optimized support systems consisting of 72 axial supports, mounted at the mirror back surface, and 6 tangent link lateral supports mounted around the outer edge. The predicted print-though errors of the M2 supports are 8nm RMS surface for axial gravity and 10nm RMS surface for lateral gravity. The natural frequencies were calculated for the M2 dynamic performance. In addition, thermo-elastic analyses of M2 for thermal gradient cases were conducted. The LSST M2 support system has an active optics capability to maintain optical figure and its performance to correct low-order aberrations has been demonstrated. The optical image qualities and structure functions for the axial and lateral gravity print-through cases, and thermal gradient effects were calculated.

Citation Download Citation

Myung K. Cho, Ming Liang, and Douglas R. Neill "Performance prediction of the LSST secondary mirror", Proc. SPIE 7424, Advances in Optomechanics, 742407 (10 September 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.823716

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