Beam combiner studies for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer

Fabien Baron; David F. Buscher; Julien Coyne; Michelle J. Creech-Eakman; Chris A. Haniff; Colby A. Jurgenson; John S. Young

doi:10.1117/12.671174

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28 June 2006 Beam combiner studies for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer

Fabien Baron, David F. Buscher, Julien Coyne, Michelle J. Creech-Eakman, Chris A. Haniff, Colby A. Jurgenson, John S. Young

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6268, Advances in Stellar Interferometry; 62681R (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671174
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

We present four alternative designs for a near-infrared science beam combiner for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer. The candidate designs considered are: (1) a four way pupil-plane combiner, fed by a "fast switchyard" that would be reconfigured at a few minute intervals to select different subsets of six input beams; (2) a four way image-plane combiner, fed by a similar fast switchyard; (3) an eight way pupil plane combiner; and (4) a six way image plane combiner. The criteria by which fully-optimised versions of the designs will be compared include: realistic signal-to-noise and imaging speed, stability and ease of alignment and calibration, cost (including detector costs), and technical and schedule risk to the MROI project.

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Fabien Baron, David F. Buscher, Julien Coyne, Michelle J. Creech-Eakman, Chris A. Haniff, Colby A. Jurgenson, and John S. Young "Beam combiner studies for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer", Proc. SPIE 6268, Advances in Stellar Interferometry, 62681R (28 June 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.671174

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