Related papers: Eliminating the Coriols Effect in Liquid Mirrors
In a light-pulse atom interferometer, we use a tip-tilt mirror to remove the influence of the Coriolis force from Earth's rotation and to characterize configuration space wave packets. For interferometers with large momentum transfer and…
We have built and tested a 3.7-m diameter liquid mirror that rotates on a ball bearing. We have carried out extensive optical tests. We find that although the ball bearing has a poor quality, the quality of the mirror, with mercury layers…
We discuss a new technology that promises large inexpensive mirrors. We argue that it should be possible to tilt a rotating viscous liquid by perhaps as much as a few tens of degrees. The tilted liquid parabolic surface is used as the…
In the development of space-based large telescope systems, having the capability to perform active optics correction allows correcting wavefront aberrations caused by thermal perturbations so as to achieve diffraction-limited performance…
I argue that there is a crisis in optical Astronomy due to a paucity of telescopes and thus the need for a paradigm shift in telescope technology. Large increases in collecting areas and observing time/astronomer are only possible if we…
The surface of a spinning liquid takes the shape of a paraboloid that can be used as a reflecting mirror. This very old and nearly forgotten concept has recently been revived and I review its present status. Extensive interferometric tests…
Interferometric tests of a f/1.2 2.5-m diameter liquid mirror show RMS surface deviations about wave/20 and Strehl ratios of order 0.6, showing that it is diffraction limited. The mirror is certainly better than implied by the data because…
We present measurements of the large-scale circulation (LSC) of turbulent Rayleigh-Benard convection in water-filled cylindrical samples of heights equal to their diameters. The orientation of the LSC had an irregular time dependence, but…
We present a new class of magnetically shaped deformable liquid mirrors made of a magnetic liquid (ferrofluid). Deformable liquid mirrors offer advantages with respect to deformable solid mirrors: large deformations, low costs and the…
We discuss a family of two-mirror correctors that can greatly extend the field accessible to a fixed telescope such as a liquid mirror telescope. The performance of the corrector is remarkable since it gives excellent images in patches…
The need for both high quality images and lightweight structures is one of the main drivers in space telescope design. An efficient wavefront control system will become mandatory in future large observatories, retaining performance while…
Images obtained by drift-scanning with a stationary telescope are affected by the declination-dependent curvature of star trails. The image displacement to curvature and drift rate variation increases with the angular field of view and can…
Next-generation large segmented mirror telescopes are expected to perform direct imaging and characterization of Earth-like rocky planets, which requires contrast limits of $10^{-7}$ to $10^{-8}$ at wavelengths from I to J band. One…
We present the research status of a deformable mirror made of a magnetic liquid whose surface is actuated by a triangular array of small current carrying coils. We demonstrate that the mirror can correct a 11 microns low order aberrated…
Adaptive optics (AO) offers an opportunity to stabilize an image and maximize the spatial resolution achievable by ground based telescopes by removing the distortions due to the atmosphere. Typically, the deformable mirror in an AO system…
It is known that a relative translational motion between the deflector and the observer affects gravitational lensing. In this paper, a lens equation is obtained to describe such effects on actual lensing observables. Results can be easily…
Equipped with a suitable optical relay system, telescopes employing low-cost fixed primary mirrors could point and track while delivering high-quality images to a fixed location. Such an optical tracking system would enable liquid-mirror…
The displacement of star images by atmospheric refraction observed by an Earth-bound telescope is dominated by a familiar term proportional to the product of the tangent of the zenith angle by the refractivity at the ground. The manuscript…
Technological advances will allow the placement of many Terahertz detectors at the focal plane of a single telescope. For a telescope of a given diameter and wavelength of operation, there is a limit to the number of usable detectors…
Microscope objectives achieve near diffraction-limited performance only when used under the conditions they are designed for. In non-standard geometries, such as thick cover slips or curved surfaces, severe aberrations arise, inevitably…