Related papers: GREGOR: Optics Redesign and Updates from 2018-2020
ESO is in the process of upgrading one of the two FORS (FOcal Reducer/low dispersion Spectrograph) instruments - a multi-mode (imaging, polarimetry, long-slit, and multi-object spectroscopy) optical instrument mounted on the Cassegrain…
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…
To meet the scientific goals of the Thirty Meter Telescope Project, full diffraction-limited performance is required from the outset and hence the entire observatory is being designed, as a system, to achieve this. The preliminary design…
The prototype Robo-AO system at the Palomar Observatory 1.5-m telescope is the world's first fully automated laser adaptive optics instrument. Scientific operations commenced in June 2012 and more than 12,000 observations have since been…
TIGRE (Telescopio Internacional de Guanajuato Rob\'otico Espectrosc\'opico) has been operating in fully robotic mode in the Observatory La Luz (Guanajuato, Mexico) since the end of 2013. With its sole instrument, HEROS, an \'echelle…
We report on the status of the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the plans and progress towards Enhanced and Advanced LIGO. The initial LIGO detectors have finished a two year long data run during which a full…
The motivation, physics objectives, and technical strategy of a upgrade to the Pierre Auger Observatory are discussed.
The European Extremely Large Telescope will see first lights by the end of 2024. With a diameter of almost 40 meters, it will be the biggest optical telescope ever built from the ground. The ELT will open a brand new window in a sensitivity…
Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology can provide for deformable mirrors (DMs) with excellent performance within a favorable economy of scale. Large MEMS-based astronomical adaptive optics (AO) systems such as the Gemini Planet…
The MAGIC gamma-ray observatory has recently been upgraded by a second Cherenkov telescope at a distance of 85 m from the first one. Simultaneous observation of air showers with the two MAGIC telescopes (stereoscopic mode) will improve the…
The Large Binocular Telescope, with its expansive collecting area, angular resolving power, and advanced optical design, provides a robust platform for development and operation of advanced instrumentation for astronomical research. The LBT…
The French-Italian interferometric gravitational wave detector VIRGO is currently being commissioned. Its principal instrument is a Michelson laser interferometer with 3 km long optical cavities in the arms and a power-recycling mirror. The…
The MAGIC telescopes are two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) located on the Canary island of La Palma. With 17m diameter mirror dishes and ultra-fast electronics, they provide an energy threshold as low as 50 GeV for…
The KAGRA Collaboration has investigated a ten-year upgrade strategy for the KAGRA gravitational wave detector, considering a total of 14 upgrade options that vary in mirror mass, quantum noise reduction techniques, and the quality of…
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is a wide-field telescope project aimed at detecting optical counterparts to gravitational wave sources. The prototype instrument was inaugurated in July 2017 on La Palma in the…
The MAGIC experiment was upgraded to a two-telescope system in 2009. Unlike other Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope arrays, MAGIC has operated for five years exclusively in monoscopic mode, and the single telescope analysis was optimized…
The MAGIC telescopes are two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) located on the Canary island of La Palma. The telescopes are designed to measure Cherenkov light from air showers initiated by gamma rays in the energy regime…
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…
A modified version of the folded aplanatic Gregory telescope equipped with a spherical two-lens corrector is proposed for observations requiring a high signal-to-noise ratio. The basic telescope model has an aperture of 400 mm (f/3.0), its…
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…