The CHARA Array is the longest baseline optical interferometer in the world. Operated with natural seeing, it has delivered landmark sub-milliarcsecond results in the areas of stellar imaging, binaries, and stellar diameters. However, to achieve ambitious observations of faint targets such as young stellar objects and active galactic nuclei, higher sensitivity is required. For that purpose, adaptive optics are developed to correct atmospheric turbulence and non-common path aberrations between each telescope and the beam combiner lab. This paper describes the AO software and its integration into the CHARA system. We also report initial on-sky tests that demonstrate an increase of scientific throughput by sensitivity gain and by extending useful observing time in worse seeing conditions. Our 6 telescopes and 12 AO systems with tens of critical alignments and control loops pose challenges in operation. We describe our methods enabling a single scientist to operate the entire system.
@article{arxiv.2012.11667,
title = {CHARA Array adaptive optics: complex operational software and performance},
author = {Narsireddy Anugu and Theo ten Brummelaar and Nils H. Turner and Matthew D. Anderson and Jean-Baptiste Le Bouquin and Judit Sturmann and Laszlo Sturmann and Chris Farrington and Norm Vargas and Olli Majoinen and Michael J. Ireland and John D. Monnier and Denis Mourard and Gail Schaefer and Douglas R. Gies and Stephen T. Ridgway and Stefan Kraus and Cyril Petit and Michel Tallon and Caroline B. Lim and Philippe Berio},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2012.11667},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
SPIE, Optical and Infrared Interferometry and Imaging VII, Proceedings Volume 11446, 1144622, Dec 14, 2020 "See, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2561560"