On-sky performance of the Zernike phase contrast sensor for the phasing of segmented telescopes

Applied Optics
I SurdejFrédéric Gonté

Abstract

The Zernike phase contrast method is a novel technique to phase the primary mirrors of segmented telescopes. It has been tested on-sky on a unit telescope of the Very Large Telescope with a segmented mirror conjugated to the primary mirror to emulate a segmented telescope. The theoretical background of this sensor and the algorithm used to retrieve the piston, tip, and tilt information are described. The performance of the sensor as a function of parameters such as star magnitude, seeing, and integration time is discussed. The phasing accuracy has always been below 15 nm root mean square wavefront error under normal conditions of operation and the limiting star magnitude achieved on-sky with this sensor is 15.7 in the red, which would be sufficient to phase segmented telescopes in closed-loop during observations.

References

Jun 30, 2005·Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, Image Science, and Vision·Natalia YaitskovaLuzma Montoya
Dec 26, 2008·Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, Image Science, and Vision·Natalia Yaitskova

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Citations

Feb 2, 2011·Applied Optics·Natalia Yaitskova, Mitchell Troy
Nov 24, 2011·Applied Optics·Gary ChananLewis C Roberts
Jun 7, 2011·Optics Express·Weirui Zhao, Genrui Cao
Jan 25, 2012·Applied Optics·Gregory C Dente, Michael L Tilton

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