Experimental validation of tilt measurement technique with a laser beacon

Mikhail S. Belen'kii; Stephen J. Karis; James M. Brown II; Robert Q. Fugate

doi:10.1117/12.363596

27 September 1999 Experimental validation of tilt measurement technique with a laser beacon

Mikhail S. Belen'kii, Stephen J. Karis, James M. Brown II, Robert Q. Fugate

Proceedings Volume 3762, Adaptive Optics Systems and Technology; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.363596
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1999, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

We have experimentally demonstrated for the first time a method for sensing wavefront tilt with a laser guide star (LGS). The tilt components of wavefronts were measured synchronously from the LGS using a telescope with 0.75 m effective aperture and from Polaris using a 1.5 m telescope. The Rayleigh guide star was formed at the altitude of 6 km and at a corresponding range of 10.5 km by projecting a focused beam at Polaris from the full aperture at the 1.5 m telescope. Both telescope mounts were unpowered and bottled down in place allowing us to substantially reduce the telescope vibration. The maximum value of the measured cross-correlation coefficient between the tilt for Polaris and the LGS is 0.71. The variations of the measured cross- correlation coefficient in the range from 0.22 to 0.71 are caused by turbulence at altitudes above 6 km, which was not sampled by the laser beacon, but affected the tilt for Polaris. It is also caused by the cone effect for turbulence below 6 km, residual mount jitter of the telescopes, and variations of the S/N. The experimental results support our concept of sensing atmospheric tilt by observing a LGS with an auxiliary telescope and indicate that this method is a possible solution for the tip-tilt problem.

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Mikhail S. Belen'kii, Stephen J. Karis, James M. Brown II, and Robert Q. Fugate "Experimental validation of tilt measurement technique with a laser beacon", Proc. SPIE 3762, Adaptive Optics Systems and Technology, (27 September 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.363596

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KEYWORDS

Telescopes

Turbulence

Atmospheric sensing

Wavefronts

Adaptive optics

Motion measurement

Receivers

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