Save our secondary: recovering a broken 1.3-m mirror

Timothy M. C. Abbott; Ronald G. Probst; Gary Poczulp; Roberto Tighe; Patricio Schurter; Andrés Montané; Joseph DeVries; Ronald C. Harris; Jonathan Elias; Manuel Martinez; Oscar Saa

doi:10.1117/12.2056636

22 July 2014 Save our secondary: recovering a broken 1.3-m mirror

Timothy M. C. Abbott, Ronald G. Probst, Gary Poczulp, Roberto Tighe, Patricio Schurter, Andrés Montané, Joseph DeVries, Ronald C. Harris, Jonathan Elias, Manuel Martinez, Oscar Saa

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9145, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V; 914542 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056636
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

In an inauspicious start to the ultimately very successful installation of the Dark Energy Camera on the V. M. Blanco 4- m telescope at CTIO, the light-weighted Cer-Vit 1.3-m-diameter secondary mirror suffered an accident in which it fell onto its apex. This punched out a central plug of glass and destroyed the focus and tip/tilt mechanism. However, the mirror proved fully recoverable, without degraded performance. This paper describes the efforts through which the mirror was repaired and the tip/tilt mechanism rebuilt and upgraded. The telescope re-entered full service as a Ritchey- Chrétien platform in October of 2013.

Citation Download Citation

Timothy M. C. Abbott, Ronald G. Probst, Gary Poczulp, Roberto Tighe, Patricio Schurter, Andrés Montané, Joseph DeVries, Ronald C. Harris, Jonathan Elias, Manuel Martinez, and Oscar Saa "Save our secondary: recovering a broken 1.3-m mirror", Proc. SPIE 9145, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V, 914542 (22 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056636

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available