Related papers: Second generation Robo-AO instruments and systems

The recent advent of laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS AO) on the largest ground-based telescopes has enabled a wide range of high angular resolution science, previously infeasible from ground-based and/or space-based observatories. As…

The performance of adaptive optics systems is partially dependant on the algorithms used within the real-time control system to compute wavefront slope measurements. We demonstrate use of a matched filter algorithm for the processing of…

Performances of an adaptive optics (AO) system are directly linked with the quality of its alignment. During the instrument calibration, having open loop fast tools with a large capture range are necessary to quickly assess the system…

NFIRAOS, the Thirty Meter Telescope's first adaptive optics system is an order 60x60 Multi-Conjugate AO system with two deformable mirrors. Although most observing will use 6 laser guide stars, it also has an NGS-only mode. Uniquely,…

The results of a study of the accuracy characteristics and image quality on the SAO RAS optical telescopes, Zeiss-1000 and BTA, using the recently developed "Telescope Analyzer" device are described: a method for determining the…

Astronomical adaptive optics systems are used to increase effective telescope resolution. However, they cannot be used to observe the whole sky since one or more natural guide stars of sufficient brightness must be found within the…

The MCAO Assisted Visible Imager and Spectrograph (MAVIS) is a new visible instrument for ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT). Its Adaptive Optics Module (AOM) must provide extreme adaptive optics correction level at low galactic latitude and…

There are numerous advantages to exploiting diffraction-limited instrumentation at astronomical observatories, which include smaller footprints, less mechanical and thermal instabilities and high levels of performance. To realize such…

RoboPol is a four-channel, one-shot linear optical polarimeter that has been successfully operating since 2013 on the 1.3 m telescope at Skinakas Observatory in Crete, Greece. Using its unique optical system, it measures the linear Stokes…

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…

NRT is an international project to build and operate the world's largest robotic telescope. The telescope will have a segmented primary mirror with an equivalent diameter of 4 m, a set of simultaneously mounted optical and near-infrared…

Integral field spectrographs are an important technology for exoplanet imaging, due to their ability to take spectra in a high-contrast environment, and improve planet detection sensitivity through spectral differential imaging. ALES is the…

We present performance simulations for a proposed visible-light, multi-conjugate adaptive optics system for the 10-meter W. M. Keck I telescope that aims to deliver near diffraction-limited angular resolution at optical wavelengths. Our…

The Wide-Field Infrared Transient Explorer (WINTER) is a new infrared time-domain survey instrument which will be deployed on a dedicated 1 meter robotic telescope at Palomar Observatory. WINTER will perform a seeing-limited time domain…

The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is a project dedicated to identifying optical counter-parts to gravitational-wave detections using a network of dedicated, wide-field telescopes. After almost a decade of design,…

The Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detectors are nearing their design sensitivity and should begin taking meaningful astrophysical data in the fall of 2015. These resonant optical interferometers will have unprecedented sensitivity to the…

The low-frequency sky below $\sim$15 MHz (20 m) is obscured by the Earth's ionosphere, the layer of charged particles above the neutral atmosphere. Single spacecraft have made measurements in this band, but cannot achieve high or even…

Diffraction limited resolution adaptive optics (AO) correction in visible wavelengths requires a high performance control. In this paper we investigate infinite impulse response filters that optimize the wavefront correction: we tested…

The Telescope to Observe Planetary Systems (TOPS) is a proposed space mission to image in the visible (0.4-0.9 micron) planetary systems of nearby stars simultaneously in 16 spectral bands (resolution R~20). For the ~10 most favorable…

In a few years, the second generation instruments of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) will routinely provide observations with 4 to 6 telescopes simultaneously. To reach their ultimate performance, they will need a fringe…