The adaptive module of the 4.1-m SOAR telescope, SAM, corrects ground-layer turbulence using a UV laser guide star. It has been commissioned in 2013 and it is in regular science operation since 2014. SAM works with the CCD imager covering a 3' field or with the speckle camera. It operates routinely and stably, delivering resolution in the I band equal to the free-atmosphere seeing. This paper describes the SAM system as a whole, providing essential reference for its users and technical information of interest to instrumentalists. Operation of the instrument, its performance, and science projects done with SAM so far are reviewed.
@article{arxiv.1608.05593,
title = {SOAR Adaptive Module (SAM): seeing improvement with a UV laser},
author = {Andrei Tokovinin and Rolando Cantarutti and Roberto Tighe and Patricio Schurter and Manuel Martinez and Sandrine Thomas and Nicole van der Bliek},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1608.05593},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in PASP. 14 pages, 12 figures