We describe the optical alignment method for the Prime-focus Infrared Microlensing Experiment (PRIME) telescope which is a prime-focus near-infrared (NIR) telescope with a wide field of view for the microlensing planet survey toward the Galactic center that is the major task for the PRIME project. There are three steps for the optical alignment: preliminary alignment by a laser tracker, fine alignment by intra- and extra-focal (IFEF) image analysis technique, and complementary and fine alignment by the Hartmann test. We demonstrated that the first two steps work well by the test conducted in the laboratory in Japan. The telescope was installed at the Sutherland Observatory of South African Astronomical Observatory in August, 2022. At the final stage of the installation, we demonstrated that the third method works well and the optical system satisfies the operational requirement.
@article{arxiv.2305.10796,
title = {Optical Alignment Method for the PRIME Telescope},
author = {Hibiki Yama and Daisuke Suzuki and Shota Miyazaki and Andrew Rakich and Tsubasa Yamawaki and Rintaro Kirikawa and Iona Kondo and Yuki Hirao and Naoki Koshimoto and Takahiro Sumi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2305.10796},
year = {2023}
}
Comments
16 pages, 10 figures, and 6 tables. Accept for publication in Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation