Related papers: Pointing the SOFIA Telescope
Active optics techniques in astronomy provide high imaging quality. This paper is dedicated to highly deformable active optics that can generate non-axisymmetric aspheric surfaces-or freeform surfaces-by use of a minimum number of…
A form of prime focus corrector for the Gregory system is proposed that provides the sub-arcsecond field of view up to 3 degrees in diameter for the spectral range 0.35-0.90 microns. The corrector includes five lenses made of same glass…
Phase-induced amplitude apodization (PIAA) coronagraphs are a promising technology for imaging exoplanets, with the potential to detect Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars. A PIAA system nominally consists of a pair of mirrors which…
The TBT project is being developed under ESA's General Studies and Technology Programme (GSTP), and shall implement a test-bed for the validation of an autonomous optical observing system in a realistic scenario within the Space Situational…
RISTRETTO is the evolution of the original idea of coupling the VLT instruments SPHERE and ESPRESSO, aiming at High Dispersion Coronagraphy. RISTRETTO is a visitor instrument that should enable the characterization of the atmospheres of…
Following the selection of The Gravitational Universe by ESA, and the successful flight of LISA Pathfinder, the LISA Consortium now proposes a 4 year mission in response to ESA's call for missions for L3. The observatory will be based on…
The speckle interferometry program at the the 4.1 m Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR), started in 2008, now accumulated over 30,300 individual observations of 12,700 distinct targets. Its main goal is to monitor orbital…
We propose a tunable laser-based satellite-mounted spectrophotometric and absolute flux calibration system, to be utilized by ground- and space-based telescopes. As spectrophotometric calibration may play a significant role in the accuracy…
Active optics is defined as the control of the shape and the alignment of the components of an optical system at low temporal frequencies. For modern large telescopes with flexible monolithic or segmented primary mirrors and also flexible…
We present the upGREAT THz heterodyne arrays for far-infrared astronomy. The Low Frequency Array (LFA) is designed to cover the 1.9-2.5 THz range using 2x7-pixel waveguide-based HEB mixer arrays in a dual polarization configuration. The…
The Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory consists of a 1m aperture Gregory telescope, a UV filter imager, an imaging vector polarimeter, an image stabilization system and further infrastructure. The first science flight of Sunrise…
The Multiconjugate adaptive Optic Relay For ELT Observations (MORFEO, formerly known as MAORY) is the adaptive optics (AO) module for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) aimed at providing a 1 arcmin corrected field to the Multi-AO Imaging…
Due to their high frame rates, high sensitivity, low noise, and low dark current, SAPHIRA detectors provide new capabilities for astronomical observations. The SAPHIRA detector is a 320x256@24 $\mu$m pixel HgCdTe linear avalanche photodiode…
The 2dF (Two-degree Field) facility at the prime focus of the Anglo-Australian Telescope provides multiple object spectroscopy over a 2 degree field of view. Up to 400 target fibres can be independently positioned by a complex robot. Two…
An all-spherical catadioptic telescope with the angular field of view of several tens of degrees in diameter and spherical focal surface is proposed for the monitoring of large sky areas. We provide a few examples of such a system with the…
Long-baseline interferometry at optical and near-infrared wavelengths is an emerging technology which is quickly becoming a useful tool to investigate stellar atmospheres and to compare observations with models. Stellar atmosphere models…
IXPE scientific payload comprises of three telescopes, each composed of a mirror and a photoelectric polarimeter based on the Gas Pixel Detector design. The three focal plane detectors, together with the unit which interfaces them to the…
The sodium laser guide star adaptive optics system ALFA has been constructed at the Calar Alto 3.5-m telescope. Following the first detection of the laser beacon on the wavefront sensor in 1997 the system is now being optimized for best…
ATUS, the Astronomical Telescope of the University of Stuttgart, is a fully remote-controlled 0.6 m f/8.17 Ritchey-Chr\'etien telescope optimized for high-cadence, high-fidelity photometry of transient sources. Observations are…
We have developed observation control software for the Immersion GRating INfrared Spectrometer (IGRINS) slit-viewing camera module, which maintains the position of an astronomical target on the spectroscopic slit. It is composed of several…