Paper
11 February 2003 Design and development of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST)
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
High-resolution studies of the Sun's magnetic fields are needed for a better understanding of solar magnetic fields and the fundamental processes responsible for solar variability. The generation of magnetic fields through dynamo processes, the amplification of fields through the interaction with plasma flows, and the destruction of fields are still poorly understood. There is still incomplete insight as to what physical mechanisms are responsible for heating the corona, what causes variations in the radiative output of the Sun, and what mechanisms trigger flares and coronal mass ejections. Progress in answering these critical questions requires study of the interaction of the magnetic field and convection with a resolution sufficient to observe scales fundamental to these processes. The 4m aperture Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will be a unique scientific tool, with excellent angular resolution, a large wavelength range, and low scattered light. With its integrated adaptive optics, the ATST will achieve a spatial resolution nearly 10 times better than any existing solar telescope. Building a large aperture telescope for viewing the sun presents many challenges, some of the more difficult being Heat control and rejection Contamination and scattered light control Control of telescope and instrument polarization Site selection This talk will present a short summary of the scientific questions driving the ATST design, the design challenges faced by the ATST, and the current status of the developing design and siting considerations
© (2003) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Stephen L. Keil, Thomas Rimmele, Christoph U. Keller, Frank Hill, Richard R. Radick, Jacobus M. Oschmann, Mark Warner, Nathan E. Dalrymple, John Briggs, Steven L. Hegwer, and Dauxing Ren "Design and development of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST)", Proc. SPIE 4853, Innovative Telescopes and Instrumentation for Solar Astrophysics, (11 February 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.460273
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Cited by 36 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Magnetism

Telescopes

Adaptive optics

Light scattering

Mirrors

Solar telescopes

Solar processes

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