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The LSST is an integrated, ground based survey system designed to conduct a decade-long time domain survey of the optical sky. It consists of an 8-meter class wide-field telescope, a 3.2 Gpixel camera, and an automated data processing system. In order to realize the scientific potential of the LSST, its optical system has to provide excellent and consistent image quality across the entire 3.5 degree Field of View. The purpose of the Active Optics System (AOS) is to optimize the image quality by controlling the surface figures of the telescope mirrors and maintaining the relative positions of the optical elements. The basic challenge of the wavefront sensor feedback loop for an LSST type 3-mirror telescope is the near degeneracy of the influence function linking optical degrees of freedom to the measured wavefront errors. Our approach to mitigate this problem is modal control, where a limited number of modes (combinations of optical degrees of freedom) are operated at the sampling rate of the wavefront sensing, while the control bandwidth for the barely observable modes is significantly lower. The paper presents a control strategy based on linear approximations to the system, and the verification of this strategy against system requirements by simulations using more complete, non-linear models for LSST optics and the curvature wavefront sensors.

Anisoplanatism is a primary source of photometric and astrometric error in single-conjugate adaptive optics. We present initial results of a project to model the off-axis optical transfer function in the adaptive optics system at the Keck II telescope. The model currently accounts for the effects of atmospheric anisoplanatism in natural guide star observations. The model for the atmospheric contribution to the anisoplanatic transfer function uses contemporaneous MASS/ DIMM measurements. Here we present the results of a validation campaign using observations of naturally guided visual binary stars under varying conditions, parameterized by the r0 and θ0 parameters of the C2n atmospheric turbulence profile. We are working to construct a model of the instrumental field-dependent aberrations in the NIRC2 camera using an artificial source in the Nasmyth focal plane. We also discuss our plans to extend the work to laser guide star operation. © (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Binary pulsars provide an excellent system for testing general relativity because of their intrinsic rotational stability and the precision with which radio observations can be used to determine their orbital dynamics. Measurements of the rate of orbital decay of two pulsars have been shown to be consistent with the emission of gravitational waves as predicted by general relativity, providing the most convincing evidence for the self-consistency of the theory to date. However, independent verification of the orbital geometry in these systems was not possible. Such verification may be obtained by determining the orientation of a binary pulsar system using only classical geometric constraints, permitting an independent prediction of general relativistic effects. Here we report high-precision timing of the nearby binary millisecond pulsar PSR J0437-4715, which establish the three-dimensional structure of its orbit. We see the expected retardation of the pulse signal arising from the curvature of space-time in the vicinity of the companion object (the `Shapiro delay'), and we determine the mass of the pulsar and its white dwarf companion. Such mass determinations contribute to our understanding of the origin and evolution of neutron stars., 5 pages, 2 figures

CAMERA is an autonomous laser guide star adaptive optics system designed for small aperture telescopes. This system is intended to be mounted permanently on such a telescope to provide large amounts of flexibly scheduled observing time, delivering high angular resolution imagery in the visible and near infrared. The design employs a Shack Hartmann wavefront sensor, a 12x12 actuator MEMS device for high order wavefront compensation, and a solid state 355nm ND:YAG laser to generate a guide star. Commercial CCD and InGaAs detectors provide coverage in the visible and near infrared. CAMERA operates by selecting targets from a queue populated by users and executing these observations autonomously. This robotic system is targeted towards applications that are diffcult to address using classical observing strategies: surveys of very large target lists, recurrently scheduled observations, and rapid response followup of transient objects. This system has been designed and costed, and a lab testbed has been developed to evaluate key components and validate autonomous operations.

Deployed as a multi-user shared facility on the 5.1 meter Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory, the PALM-3000 highorder upgrade to the successful Palomar Adaptive Optics System will deliver extreme AO correction in the near-infrared, and diffraction-limited images down to visible wavelengths, using both natural and sodium laser guide stars. Wavefront control will be provided by two deformable mirrors, a 3368 active actuator woofer and 349 active actuator tweeter, controlled at up to 3 kHz using an innovative wavefront processor based on a cluster of 17 graphics processing units. A Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor with selectable pupil sampling will provide high-order wavefront sensing, while an infrared tip/tilt sensor and visible truth wavefront sensor will provide low-order LGS control. Four back-end instruments are planned at first light: the PHARO near-infrared camera/spectrograph, the SWIFT visible light integral field spectrograph, Project 1640, a near-infrared coronagraphic integral field spectrograph, and 888Cam, a high-resolution visible light imager.

We have recently demonstrated diffraction-limited resolution imaging in the visible on the 5m Palomar Hale telescope. The new LAMP instrument is a Lucky Imaging backend camera for the Palomar AO system. Typical resolutions of 35-40 mas with Strehls of 10-20% were achieved at 700nm, and at 500nm the FWHM resolution was as small as 42 milliarcseconds. In this paper we discuss the capabilities and design challenges of such a system used with current and near future AO systems on a variety of telescopes. In particular, we describe the designs of two planned Lucky Imaging + AO instruments: a facility instrument for the Palomar 200" AO system and its PALM3K upgrade, and a visible-light imager for the CAMERA low-cost LGS AO system planned for the Palomar 60" telescope. We introduce a Monte Carlo simulation setup that reproduces the observed PSF variability behind an adaptive optics system, and apply it to predict the performance of 888Cam and CAMERA. CAMERA is predicted to achieve diffraction-limited resolution at wavelengths as short as 350 nm. In addition to on-axis resolution improvements we discuss the results of frame selection with the aim of improving other image parameters such as isoplanatic patch sizes, showing that useful improvements in image quality can be made by Lucky+AO even with very temporally and spatially undersampled data.

We investigate the limits of ground-based astrometry with adaptive optics using the core of the Galactic globular cluster M5. Adaptive optics systems provide near diffraction-limit imaging with the world's largest telescopes. The substantial improvement in both resolution and signal-to-noise ratio enables high-precision astrometry from the ground. We describe the dominant systematic errors that typically limit ground-based differential astrometry, and enumerate observational considerations for mitigating their effects. After implementing these measures, we find that the dominant limitation on astrometric performance in this experiment is caused by tilt anisoplanatism. We then present an optimal estimation technique for measuring the position of one star relative to a grid of reference stars in the face of this correlated random noise source. Our methodology has the advantage of reducing the astrometric errors as the square root of time and faster than the square root of the number of reference stars -- effectively eliminating noise caused by atmospheric tilt to the point that astrometric performance is limited by centering accuracy. Using 50 reference stars we demonstrate single-epoch astrometric precision of ~ 1 mas in 1 second, decreasing to < 100 microarcseconds in 2 minutes of integration time at the Hale 200-inch telescope. We also show that our astrometry is accurate to, Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures; submitted to AJ

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, May 24-31, 2006, Orlando, Florida, United States, Series: Proceedings of SPIE; no. 6272

We have built and field tested a multiple guide star tomograph with four Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors. We predict the wavefront on the fourth sensor channel estimated using wavefront information from the other three channels using synchronously recorded data. This system helps in the design of wavefront sensors for future extremely large telescopes that will use multi conjugate adaptive optics and multi object adaptive optics. Different wavefront prediction algorithms are being tested with the data obtained. We describe the system, its current capabilities and some preliminary results.

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida, United States, Series: Proceedings of SPIE; no. 6272

A point source deconvolution technique is described that models the effects of anisoplanatism on the adaptive optics point spread function. This technique is used in the analysis of a quadruple system observed using the Palomar Adaptive Optics system on the Hale 5 meter telescope. Two members of this system reside in a .1 asec double. Deconvolution of this close double was performed using the PSF of a third member of the system, which was offset from the double by 12 asec. Incorporation of anisoplanatism into the deconvolution procedure requires knowledge of the turbulence profile, which was measured at the time of these observations using a DIMM/MASS unit at Palomar Observatory.

PALM-3000 is proposed to be the first visible-light sodium laser guide star astronomical adaptive optics system. Deployed as a multi-user shared facility on the 5.1 meter Hale Telescope at Palomar Mountain, this state-of-the-art upgrade to the successful Palomar Adaptive Optics System will have the unique capability to open the visible light spectrum to diffraction-limited scientific access from the ground, providing angular imaging resolution as fine as 16 milliarcsec with modest sky coverage fraction.

In this paper, we provide an overview of the adaptive optics (AO) program for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project, including an update on requirements; the philosophical approach to developing an overall AO system architecture; the recently completed conceptual designs for facility and instrument AO systems; anticipated first light capabilities and upgrade options; and the hardware, software, and controls interfaces with the remainder of the observatory. Supporting work in AO component development, lab and field tests, and simulation and analysis is also discussed. Further detail on all of these subjects may be found in additional papers in this conference., Astronomical telescopes and instrumentation 2006: technology advancements, 24-31 May, 2006, Orlando, Florida, USA, Series: Proceedings of SPIE; no. 6272

Optics and Photonics 2005, July 31 - August 4, 2005, San Diego, California, United States, Series: Proceedings of SPIE; no. 5903

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, June 21-25, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom, Series: Proceedings of SPIE; no. 5490

This paper presents a series of studies of single conjugate adaptive optics systems that use numerical simulation to investigate aspects of system performance not addressed by traditional statistical metrics. These studies include investigations of temporal control loop dynamics and quantitative comparisons of system performance using different types of reconstructors.

Arroyo is an open source, cross-platform C++ class library project designed for modeling of electromagnetic wave propagation through atmospheric turbulence and adaptive optics systems. This paper describes the functionality available in the library and discusses future plans for this project.

In this paper we describe the development of a C++ class library for the simulation of adaptive optics systems. This library includes functionality to simulate the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a randomly generated turbulent atmosphere and through an adaptive optical system. It includes support for extended emitters and laser guide stars, and for different types of wavefront sensors and reconstructors. The library also aims to support parallelization of simulations across symmetric multiprocessor and cluster supercomputers.

We propose a new recursive filtering algorithm for wave-front reconstruction in a large-scale adaptive optics system. An embedding step is used in this recursive filtering algorithm to permit fast methods to be used for wave-front reconstruction on an annular aperture. This embedding step can be used alone with a direct residual error updating procedure or used with the preconditioned conjugate-gradient method as a preconditioning step. We derive the Hudgin and Fried filters for spectral-domain filtering, using the eigenvalue decomposition method. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we compare the performance of discrete Fourier transform domain filtering, discrete cosine transform domain filtering, multigrid, and alternative-direction-implicit methods in the embedding step of the recursive filtering algorithm. We also simulate the performance of this recursive filtering in a closed-loop adaptive optics system.