Positioning of optical payload: SALT Telescope

Alain Courteville; Fabrice Garcia; Leon Nel

doi:10.1117/12.552596

29 September 2004 Positioning of optical payload: SALT Telescope

Alain Courteville, Fabrice Garcia, Leon Nel

Proceedings Volume 5495, Astronomical Structures and Mechanisms Technology; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552596
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2004, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract

A common problem in the large telescopes is the accurate positioning of the optical elements. In the Salt Telescope, there is no secondary mirror, but a light collection system mounted on an optical payload, which is dynamically positioned above the primary mirror. Fogale Nanotech has developed an optical ranging system, the LISE LS40-LD, which is derived from a commercial product, to measure the distance from the payload to the primary mirror, and adjust their relative position. The LISE system is a fibre optic low-coherence interferometre illuminated by an infrared broadband source. It consists in a control unit placed under the telescope and a small collimator mounted on the payload, which focuses the measurement beam on the mirror and collects the reflected light. The collimator is linked to the control unit by a 50 m long optic fibre. It measures a true absolute distance. The distance to measure is 13.505 m, the measuring range is +/-20 mm and the required accuracy is +/- 10 μm. The system has been installed on the Salt Telescope on July, 2003. The results shows that the specifications are met.

Citation Download Citation

Alain Courteville, Fabrice Garcia, and Leon Nel "Positioning of optical payload: SALT Telescope", Proc. SPIE 5495, Astronomical Structures and Mechanisms Technology, (29 September 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.552596

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