Cryogenic 1-5 micron atmospheric dispersion corrector for astronomical adaptive optics

Physics – Optics

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

A cryogenic mechanism has been built to correct for the blurring effects of atmospheric dispersion in adaptive-optics images from large aperture telescopes. Steward Observatory's 6.5 m telescope features a deformable Cassegrain secondary mirror compensating for atmospheric turbulence at wavelengths from 1 - 5 microns. At 1 micron, smearing caused by atmospheric dispersion equals the diffraction-limited image width (0.04 arcseconds FWHM). In order to correct for this effect and to maintain the low thermal background provided by the adaptive secondary, we have designed and built a cryogenic (77 K) atmospheric dispersion corrector. Operating over a spectral range of 1 - 5 microns, two pairs of counter-rotating calcium/lithium-fluoride prisms provide diffraction-limited imaging over a field of 1.7 arcminutes at a zenith angle up to 45 degrees.

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