Related papers: NPF: mirror development in Chile
Planet Formation research is blooming in an era where we are moving from speaking about "protoplanetary disks" to "planet forming disks" (Andrews et al., 2018). However, this transition is still motivated by indirect (but convincing) hints.…
We present the novel design of microfabricated, silicon-substrate based mirrors for use in cryogenic Fabry-Perot Interferometers (FPIs) for the mid-IR to sub-mm/mm wavelength regime. One side of the silicon substrate will have a…
In the manufacturing process of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) mirrors (replicated from a mandrel) the orientation of the unidirectional carbon fiber layers (layup) has a direct influence on different aspects of the final product,…
Carbon fibre composite technology for lightweight mirrors is gaining increasing interest in the space- and ground-based astronomical communities for its low weight, ease of manufacturing, excellent thermal qualities and robustness. We…
We present a method for the production of segmented optics. It is a novel processing developed at INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera (INAF-OAB) employing commercial of-the-shelf materials. It is based on the shaping of thin glass foils…
Optics for future X-ray telescopes will be characterized by very large aperture and focal length, and will be made of lightweight materials like glass or plastic in order to keep the total mass within acceptable limits. Optics based on thin…
The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) is a project for a very large optical interferometer intended to obtain images of the planet formation process at scales as small as the Hill sphere of giant exoplanets. Its main science instruments will…
An international group of scientists has begun planning for the Planet Formation Imager (PFI, www.planetformationimager.org), a next-generation infrared interferometer array with the primary goal of imaging the active phases of planet…
The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) is a future world facility that will image the process of planetary formation. It will have an angular resolution and sensitivity sufficient to resolve sub-Hill sphere structures around newly formed giant…
The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) Project has formed a Technical Working Group (TWG) to explore possible facility architectures to meet the primary PFI science goal of imaging planet formation in situ in nearby star- forming regions. The…
Lightweight parabolic mirrors for solar concentrators have been fabricated using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) and a nanometer scale optical surface smoothing technique. The smoothing technique improved the surface roughness of the…
Optics for future X-ray telescopes will be characterized by very large aperture and focal length, and will be made of lightweight materials like glass or silicon in order to keep the total mass within acceptable limits. Optical modules…
Diffractive/refractive optics, such as Phase Fresnel Lenses (PFL's), offer the potential to achieve excellent imaging performance in the x-ray and gamma-ray photon regimes. In principle, the angular resolution obtained with these devices…
The LAMP (Lightweight Asymmetry and Magnetism Probe) X-ray telescope is a mission concept to measure the polarization of X-ray astronomical sources at 250 eV via imaging mirrors that reflect at incidence angles near the polarization angle,…
We report the design, nanofabrication, and characterization of high-quality polymer-based micromirror structures employing the 3D two-photon polymerization lithography technique. Compared to conventional microcavity approaches, our…
We describe a new technology for the fabrication of inexpensive high-quality mirrors. We begin by chemically producing a large number of metallic nanoparticles coated with organic ligands. The particles are then spread on a liquid substrate…
At present, the principal limitation on the resolution and contrast of astronomical imaging instruments comes from aberrations in the optical path, which may be imposed by the Earth's turbulent atmosphere or by variations in the alignment…
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a future ground-based gamma-ray astronomy detector that will consist of more than 100 Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes of different sizes. The total reflective surface of roughly 10 000 m$^2$…
The advent of extremely large telescopes will bring unprecedented light-collecting power and spatial resolution, but it will also lead to a significant increase in the size and complexity of focal-plane instruments. The use of freeform…
Complex non-linear and dynamic processes lie at the heart of the planet formation process. Through numerical simulation and basic observational constraints, the basics of planet formation are now coming into focus. High resolution imaging…