MAVIS passed the Preliminary Design Review in March 2023 and kick started its phase C early June. We are aiming at a Final Design Review in December 2024. I will report on the state of MAVIS design, as well as general project updates, schedule, procurement, risks. We are working on early procurement (Long Lead Item review held on October 2023) as well as on a number of prototype activities I will report on.
The MCAO-Assisted Visible Imager and Spectrograph (MAVIS) is an instrument that will provide an unprecedented level of imaging and spectroscopy with the highest visible angular resolution provided by any ground or space-based telescope. Operating at a wavelength range of .370 to .950um, MAVIS will be installed on the Nasmyth platform A of the ESO Yepun one of the Very Large Telescopes (VLT) as a general-purpose instrument with an angular resolution two to three times better than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. MAVIS will take advantage of the 4 lasers in the VLT Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF) with an added upgrade of the facility. This upgrade splits each of four lasers into pairs that generate the eight laser guide stars (LGS) used to feed the wavefront sensors (WFS). The MAVIS LGS WFS carousel is situated in the MAVIS Adaptive Optics Modules (AOM) where the 589nm laser light is split from the incoming beam before the instrument derotator. The LGS WFS module consists of a focuser to adjust for the altitude of the sodium layer and a rotating carousel that houses the eight LGS WFS. In this paper, we present the final design of the optical and mechanical components of the field derotating carousel, LGS WFS optics, and cameras. We introduce the simulations and models that continue to constrain and improve the performance of the design.
The MCAO-Assisted Visible Imager and Spectrograph (MAVIS) will utilise the Adaptive Optics Facility of the ESO Very Large Telescope, UT4. In order to fully harness the resolving power of an 8 m telescope in the visible spectrum, the AO system of MAVIS must adhere to a tight wavefront error budget. The demanding performance requirements flow into all aspects of the MAVIS design, not the least of which is the wavefront estimation strategy, leveraging tomographic turbulence measurements from 3 natural guide stars and 8 laser guide stars, all coupled to Shack Hartmann wavefront sensors. In this paper, we summarise the wavefront estimation processes proposed for MAVIS. In a companion paper, we discuss the LGS WFS design.
The Advanced Instrumentation & Technology Centre (AITC) is part of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics within the Australian National University and is located at Mt Stromlo in Canberra, Australia. It is the largest instrumentation research, design and development facility for astronomy and space in Australia with a track record spanning decades of expertise in those fields. The core mission of the AITC is to develop and deliver world-leading, innovative solutions for ground and space-based astronomy at visible, infrared, and ultra-violet wavelengths. AITC is also part of the Australian Instrumentation Consortium - Astralis. At the AITC, we combine our extensive knowledge and expertise in optics, mechanics, electronics, detectors, control, software, astronomy, and space technologies to design and build cutting edge instruments. We integrate robust system engineering, project management and quality assurance to deliver bespoke instruments and capabilities to our customers around the world. We leverage world-class instrumentation technologies to fields beyond astronomy such as remote sensing and laser communications. The AITC hosts the National Space Testing Facility (NTSF), a hub for space environment testing of instrument payloads and spacecrafts. We provide research services to the space community including academia, industry, and government agencies. This paper presents the operating model that the AITC has developed to manage its complex and diverse project portfolio. The model integrates the AITC’s project management, system engineering and product assurance frameworks, and combines them with the AITC quality management structure. Some examples of issues addressed over the past 4 years are presented, as well as the strengths and challenges uncovered by a recent review of the AITC operational procedures by ANU Enterprise.
MAVIS is an instrument being built for the ESO’s VLT AOF (Adaptive Optics Facility on UT4 Yepun). MAVIS stands for MCAO Assisted Visible Imager and Spectrograph. It is intended to be installed at the Nasmyth focus of the VLT UT4 and is made of two main parts: an Adaptive Optics (AO) system that cancels the image blurring induced by atmospheric turbulence and its post focal instrumentation, an imager and an IFU spectrograph, both covering the visible part of the light spectrum. The MAVIS project has completed PDR and is currently in the final design stage of development. We present the integrated framework, and the software tool developed the reliability, availability, maintainability, and hazards analysis, examples of RAMS analysis and the impact on the design and development of MAVIS. Additionally, we present how the RAMS framework integrates with MAVIS model-based system engineering and project management frameworks and tools.
MAVIS is a Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics for the UT4 of VLT designed to deliver a corrected FoV to a spectrograph, an imager, and a visiting instrument. An optical bench, kinematically mounted on the overall main structure (OMS) is used to support the post focal relay optics, which include the ADC, a K-mirror, the DMs, the calibration, and the selectors. Said bench also rigidly supports the LGS module, the NGS module and the imager.
The design and analysis of the steel bench is presented together with the design, analysis, and prototyping of the optomechanical elements. Particular attention is given to the evolution of the derotation system design (K-mirror), which has been strongly improved, and to the prototyping plan.
MAVIS will be part of the next generation of VLT instrumentation and it will include a visible imager and a spectrograph, both fed by a common Adaptive Optics Module. The AOM consists in a MCAO system, whose challenge is to provide a 30” AO-corrected FoV in the visible domain, with good performance in a 50% sky coverage at the Galactic Pole. To reach the required performance, the current AOM scheme includes the use of up to 11 reference sources at the same time (8 LGSs + 3 NGSs) to drive more than 5000 actuators, divided into 3 deformable mirrors (one of them being UT4 secondary mirror). The system also includes some auxiliary loops, that are meant to compensate for internal instabilities (including WFSs focus signal, LGS tip-tilt signal and pupil position) so to push the stability of the main AO loop and the overall performance. Here we present the Preliminary Design of the AOM, which evolved, since the previous phase, as the result of further trade-offs and optimizations. We also introduce the main calibration strategy for the loops and sub-systems, including NCPA calibration approach. Finally, we present a summary of the main results of the performance and stability analyses performed for the current design phase, in order to show compliance to the performance requirements.
MAVIS is a Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics for the UT4 of VLT designed to deliver a corrected FoV to a spectrograph, an imager, and a visiting instrument. An optical bench is used to support the post focal relay optics, which include the ADC, a K-mirror, the DM, and the selector. Said bench also rigidly supports the calibration, the LGS module, the NGS module and the imager providing the maximum stability and repeatability during maintenance operations. The Adaptive Optics Module structure (AOMS) was rigidly connected to the Nasmyth platform structure via the Overall Mechanical Structure (OMS). The OMS also provides structural integrity for the Spectrograph sub-system while isolating it from the main enclosure. At this level the AOMS and the OMS have been merged in a single structure; the decision about keeping them together or separated will be taken in the future depending on mechanical and integration considerations. The preliminary design choices adopted while designing these subsystems are presented considering the actual mechanical and thermal requirements. Particular attention is given to the derotation system design (K-mirror) and the analyses done to choose the materials and the adhesives.
The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University is currently building the Dynamic REd All-sky Monitoring Survey (DREAMS). DREAMS is a 0.5m wide-field near-infrared survey telescope that will be located at Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. DREAMS will utilise Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) detectors and a 3.71 sq. degree field-of-view to survey the visible sky to MAB=17.8 in the J-band every 4-7 days. Due to the noise properties of the InGaAs detectors, DREAMS is required to convert a F/6 telescope beam to an F/2 detector beam. Combining this with the wide-field nature of the telescope, DREAMS requires a large number of additional optical and mechanical elements with relatively tight tolerances to meet the performance requirements. This paper discusses the current status of the assembly and alignment of DREAMS, along with the on-going alignment procedures, techniques, and methods used to meet these survey requirements.
The Mount Stromlo LGS facility includes two laser systems: a fiber-based sum-frequency laser designed and built by EOS Space Systems in Australia, and a Semiconductor Guidestar Laser designed and built by Aret´e Associates in the USA under contract with the Australian National University. The Beam Transfer Optics (BTO) enable either simultaneous or separate propagation of the two lasers to create a single LGS on the sky. This paper provides an overview of the Mount Stromlo LGS facility design, integration and testing of the two sodium guidestar lasers in the laboratory and on the EOS 1.8m telescope.
The DREAMS telescope is currently under construction at the Siding Spring Observatory. Once completed, the 0.5m telescope will be the fastest infrared surveyor in the southern hemisphere and one of the best tool available for transient astronomy. The Opto-mechnical design is fully custom and consists of two distinct sections: The telescope tube assembly and the instrument optical relay that feeds the light into six InGaAs cameras. We present here, the details of the mechanical design of the telescope.
There have been a dramatic increase in the number of optical and radio transient surveys due to astronomical transients such as gravitational waves and gamma ray bursts, however, there have been a limited number of wide-field infrared surveys due to narrow field-of-view and high cost of infrared cameras, we present two new wide-field near-infrared fully automated surveyors; Palomar Gattini-IR and the Dynamic REd All-sky Monitoring Survey (DREAMS). Palomar Gattini-IR, a 25 square degree J-band imager that begun science operations at Palomar Observatory, USA in October 2018; we report on survey strategy as well as telescope and observatory operations and will also providing initial science results. DREAMS is a 3.75 square degree wide-field imager that is planned for Siding Spring Observatory, Australia; we report on the current optical and mechanical design and plans to achieve on-sky results in 2020. DREAMS is on-track to be one of the first astronomical telescopes to use an Indium Galium Arsenide (InGaAs) detector and we report initial on-sky testing results for the selected detector package. DREAMS is also well placed to take advantage and provide near-infrared follow-up of the LSST.
As space debris in lower Earth orbits are accumulating, techniques to lower the risk of space debris collisions must be developed. Within the context of the Space Environment Research Centre (SERC), the Australian National University (ANU) is developing an adaptive optics system for tracking and pushing space debris. The strategy is to pre-condition a laser launched from a 1.8 m telescope operated by Electro Optics Systems (EOS) on Mount Stromlo, Canberra and direct it at an object to perturb its orbit. Current progress towards implementing this experiment, which will ensure automated operation between the telescope and the adaptive optics system, will be presented.
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