Toward ARIEL’s primary mirror

Andrea Tozzi; Anna Brucalassi; Rodolfo Canestrari; Paolo Chioetto; Ciro Del Vecchio; Luca Carbonaro; Fausto Cortecchia; Emiliano Diolaiti; Paul Eccleston; Gilberto Falcini; Debora Ferruzzi; Daniele Gottini; Elisa Guerriero; Marcella Iuzzolino; Riccardo Lilli; Matteo Lombini; Giuseppe Malaguti; Giuseppina Micela; Federico Miceli; Gianluca Morgante; Emanuele Pace; Enzo Pascale; Raffaele Piazzolla; Giampaolo Preti; Mario Salatti; Antonio Scippa; Giovanna Tinetti; Elisabetta Tommasi; Dervis Vernani; Paola Zuppella

doi:10.1117/12.2628906

27 August 2022 Toward ARIEL’s primary mirror

Andrea Tozzi, Anna Brucalassi, Rodolfo Canestrari, Paolo Chioetto, Ciro Del Vecchio, Luca Carbonaro, Fausto Cortecchia, Emiliano Diolaiti, Paul Eccleston, Gilberto Falcini, Debora Ferruzzi, Daniele Gottini, Elisa Guerriero, Marcella Iuzzolino, Riccardo Lilli, Matteo Lombini, Giuseppe Malaguti, Giuseppina Micela, Federico Miceli, Gianluca Morgante, Emanuele Pace, Enzo Pascale, Raffaele Piazzolla, Giampaolo Preti, Mario Salatti, Antonio Scippa, Giovanna Tinetti, Elisabetta Tommasi, Dervis Vernani, Paola Zuppella

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12180, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave; 1218040 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2628906
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Conference Poster

Abstract

Ariel (Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large Survey) is the adopted M4 mission of ESA “Cosmic Vision” program. Its purpose is to conduct a survey of the atmospheres of known exoplanets through transit spectroscopy. Launch is scheduled for 2029. Ariel scientific payload consists of an off-axis, unobscured Cassegrain telescope feeding a set of photometers and spectrometers in the waveband between 0.5 and 7.8 μm, and operating at cryogenic temperatures. The Ariel Telescope consists of a primary parabolic mirror (M1) with an elliptical aperture of 1.1 m of major axis and 0.7 m of minor axis, followed by a hyperbolic secondary (M2) , a parabolic recollimating tertiary (M3) and a flat folding mirror (M4). The Primary mirror is a very innovative device made of lightened aluminum. Aluminum mirrors for cryogenic instruments and for space application are already in use, but never before now it has been attempted the creation of such a large mirror made entirely of aluminum: this means that the production process must be completely revised and finetuned, finding new solutions, studying the thermal processes and paying a great care to the quality check. By the way, the advantages are many: thermal stabilization is simpler than with mirrors made of other materials based on glass or composite materials, the cost of the material is negligable, the shape may be free and the possibility of making all parts of the telescope, from optical surfaces to the structural parts, of the same material guarantees a perfect alignment at whichever temperature. This paper describes the methodology and preliminary results of this manufacturing process and discusses future steps.

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Andrea Tozzi, Anna Brucalassi, Rodolfo Canestrari, Paolo Chioetto, Ciro Del Vecchio, Luca Carbonaro, Fausto Cortecchia, Emiliano Diolaiti, Paul Eccleston, Gilberto Falcini, Debora Ferruzzi, Daniele Gottini, Elisa Guerriero, Marcella Iuzzolino, Riccardo Lilli, Matteo Lombini, Giuseppe Malaguti, Giuseppina Micela, Federico Miceli, Gianluca Morgante, Emanuele Pace, Enzo Pascale, Raffaele Piazzolla, Giampaolo Preti, Mario Salatti, Antonio Scippa, Giovanna Tinetti, Elisabetta Tommasi, Dervis Vernani, and Paola Zuppella "Toward ARIEL’s primary mirror", Proc. SPIE 12180, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 1218040 (27 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2628906

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