This paper presents the initial performance results of the wavefront sensor Image Acquisition System (IMAQ) developed for the ULTIMATE-Subaru ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO) system. The IMAQ consists of eight sCMOS cameras (Hamamatsu ORCA-Fusion BT) to measure the wavefront from four NGSs and four LGSs at a maximum frame rate of 500 Hz, frame grabber boards to acquire the data from the cameras, and a PC to process and transfer the acquired images to the GLAO real-time control system. Within the GLAO error budget, the IMAQ contributes to both measurement error and temporal error. The performance of the IMAQ system is assessed in terms of latency and noise characteristics. Based on the results, we confirm that the IMAQ system meets the performance requirements for the ULTIMATE-Subaru GLAO system. We also introduce a custom FPGA-based IMAQ designed to synchronously acquire data from the eight cameras, which is currently under development to replace the PC-based control system.
ULTIMATE-Subaru Tomography Adaptive optics Research experimenT (ULTIMATE-START) is a laser tomography AO project on the Subaru telescope. The AO system utilizes 4 laser guide stars (LGSs) and 4 Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors (SH-WFSs) to realize the tomographic turbulence measurements. The LTAOWFS unit is under assembling in the Subaru telescope, and the first light is planned in mid 2025. In the course of the development, we have assembled a prototype 32×32 SH-WFS and conducted on-sky engineering observations with bright natural stars and upgraded LGS of the Subaru telescope. We develop a realtime SH-WFS image analysis software dealing with the shift and rotation of the pupil image on the detector in real time. In the final LTAO system, the measured shift will be corrected by a pupil alignment mirror, and rotation will be considered in the tomographic reconstruction. We apply machine learning analysis on the measured time series of spot movements, and the results indicate predictive measurements is effective, especially for faint guide stars with relatively large wavefront measurement error.
Atmospheric turbulence profile plays an important role in designing and operating adaptive optics (AO) systems with multiple laser guide stars. To obtain representative free atmospheric profiles and resolved ground layer profiles for future AO systems at the Subaru Telescope, we are conducting the SHARPEST (Shack-Hartmann Atmospheric tuRbulence Profiling Experiment at the Subaru Telescope) project. In this project, we develop a turbulence profiler comprising two Shack-Hartmann (SH) sensors to observe a pair of bright stars through the Subaru Telescope with high spatial sampling by 2cm subapertures. We perform two main analyses on the SH spot data: variance analysis on the spot scintillation for free atmospheric profiles, and on the spot slope for ground layer profiles. Through the three previous engineering observations, we establish a method to constrain the turbulence profile as well as the total seeing and the wind profile by analyzing data from the SH sensors. The free atmospheric profiles reconstructed by the two independent SH sensors show good agreement and are also consistent with simultaneous measurements by another profiler except for turbulence strength at ∼1km, which might be explained by an overestimation problem of scintillation-based profilers. The wind profiles show good consistency with the direct measurements by a rawinsonde. The ground layer profile results, obtained by combining data from the two SH sensors, suggest that turbulence is concentrated in the range up to ∼50m above the primary mirror. As a comparative measurement for the dome seeing, we are currently planning to install AIRFLOW, a small local turbulence sensor inside the dome.
ULTIMATE-START, designed for the Subaru Telescope, is a laser tomographic adaptive optics (LTAO) system that uses four Laser Guide Stars (LGSs) and four Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors (SH-WFSs) to perform tomographic wavefront reconstruction towards the astronomical target of interest. The laser launching system splits a single 22W laser beam into four using beam splitters and controls the LGS asterism diameter with a pair of tip/tilt mirrors for each. A Python-based ray-tracing program has been developed to simulate flexible manipulation of the LGS asterism configuration and to predict optical vignetting in the laser beam at the exit of the Laser Launching Telescope (LLT). The output of the ray-tracing program is used to simulate the uplink propagation of the laser beam to predict the spot size in the sodium layer. The downward propagation toward the SH-WFS of ULTIMATE-START is then calculated using the simulated laser spot irradiance in the sodium layer. In this paper, we describe the model of the optical system to generate the 4 LGSs and present results of the simulations to predict the properties of the LGS as seen by the wavefront sensor. We also compared the simulation results with the on-sky data obtained with a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor attached to the Subaru telescope to validate our method.
ULTIMATE-Subaru is the next generation wide-field near-infrared instrument for the Subaru Telescope, assisted by Ground-Layer Adaptive Optics (GLAO). The GLAO system is required to provide ∼0.2 arcsec image quality in FWHM at K band (2.2μm) uniformly over 14×14 arcmin2 field of view, with more than 90% sky-coverage. In previous studies of the GLAO system, we assumed the use of global shutter readout for the WFS detector. However, the current design of the GLAO WFS system uses the CMOS cameras employing rolling shutter readout. We have implemented the rolling shutter readout in the end-to-end numerical simulation according to the current design of the GLAO WFS system and update the GLAO performance evaluation. We also evaluate the temporal error with lower frame rate of the NGS WFS that is required to keep the GLAO performance with faint NGSs.
The Subaru laser guide star system has been upgraded by implementing the TOPTICA/MPBC guide-star laser and a new mirror-based laser relay system. The upgrade is to replace the aged laser and its transfer system and provide the improved performance for stable science operation. The increased laser return photon can also bring a new capability of generating multiple laser guide stars (LGSs) by splitting the laser beam. The new laser guide star system was installed on the Subaru telescope in December 2021 and commissioning observations were conducted in 2022. The LGSAO mode with the new laser guide star system has been offered for science open use program since 2023. The new laser guide star system provides more stable LGS than the previous system with respect to the laser power and pointing. The LGS spot size is ∼1.0 arcsec in FWHM under median seeing condition. The LGS photon return is more than 10 times brighter than the previous system. By utilizing the increased brightness, further upgrade of the Laser Launching Telescope (LLT) is being implemented to generate the asterism of four LGSs with the diameter variable between 10 and 40 arcsec for the new Laser Tomography Adaptive Optics (LTAO) system.
ULTIMATE-Subaru is the next-generation facility instrument program of the Subaru Telescope which will extend the existing Subaru’s wide-field survey capability to the near-infrared wavelength. The ULTIMATE-Subaru instrument suite includes Ground-Layer Adaptive Optics (GLAO) and wide-field near-infrared instruments, aiming to provide ∼0.2 arcsec image size at K band (2.2 μm) over 20 arcmin diameter field of view at the Cassegrain focus. The planned first light instrument is a Wide-Field Imager (WFI), which covers a 14 × 14 square arcmin field of view from 0.9 to 2.5 μm in wavelength. GLAO and WFI are currently in the final design phase, aiming to start the commissioning observations at the telescope in 2028. In parallel to the development for ULTIMATE wide-field instruments, there are ongoing activities to develop a narrow-field wide-band spectrograph (NINJA) together with a Laser Tomography AO system (ULTIMATE-START) utilizing the Adaptive Secondary Mirror and the Laser Guide Star Facility being developed for the GLAO system. In this presentation, an overview of the ULTIMATE-SUBARU instruments, their current status, and future prospects will be presented.
In this paper, we present our approach regarding the compensation of defective pixels in the infrared array detector used in the NINJA spectrograph for the Subaru Telescope. While it is typical to use a detector with minimal defective pixels for infrared spectrographs, our HAWAII-2RG detector has a central area with a defective pixel rate of 10%. Therefore, we compensate for defective pixels by mechanically shifting the detector along the focal plane in the direction of dispersion. This approach applies the concept of dithering in imaging observation to a spectrograph, and the shifting mechanism is designed to have a maximum movement distance of 8 mm. We present the expected performance of the compensation and the actual mechanical structure fabricated.
ULTIMATE-Subaru is a next facility instrumentation program of the Subaru Telescope. The goal of this project is to extend the wide-field capability of the Subaru to near-infrared (NIR), by developing a wide-field ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO) system and wide-field NIR instruments. The GLAO system will uniformly improve the image quality up to 20-arcmin field of view in diameter by correcting for the ground-layer turbulence. The expected image quality after the GLAO correction is FWHM~0".2 in K-band under moderate seeing conditions. In this presentation, we present preliminary design overview of the GLAO system at the Cassegrain focus, which consist of an Adaptive Secondary Mirror, NGS and LGS wavefront sensor system, a laser guide star facility, and control system. We also present the prototyping activities to validate the selected design of the GLAO system.
ULTIMATE-Subaru (Ultra-wide Laser Tomographic Imager and MOS with AO Transcendent Exploration) is the next-generation development project of the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, U.S.A. Ground Layer Adaptive Optics (GLAO) technology corrects atmospheric turbulence near the ground and improves the star image to realize wider fields of view (14 x 14 arcmin) than conventional adaptive optics can do. In the GLAO system, the laser launch system emits four lasers of up to 20 minutes of asterism, then these four lasers excite four artificial stars from 80km to 200km in the sky. The wavefront sensor (WFS) system observes them and corrects atmospheric turbulence. The WFS system also utilizes four natural stars outside the science field of view as well. This paper presents the preliminary optical design of the WFS system.
Adaptive Optics projects at Subaru Telescope span a wide field of capabilities ranging from ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO) providing partial correction over a 20 arcmin FOV to extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) for exoplanet imaging. We describe in this paper current and upcoming narrow field-of-view capabilities provided by the Subaru Extreme Adaptive Optics Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) system and its instrument modules, as well as the upcoming 3000-actuator upgrade of the Nasmyth AO system.
It is common practice in adaptive optics to use CCD detectors with global shutter readout for wavefront sensing. sCMOS detectors with rolling shutter readout are often not considered due to image distortion when the object is moving at high speed. However, sCMOS detectors have the potential to achieve lower readout noise, larger format, and lower cost. Therefore, we investigate the effect of rolling shutter readout in the context of the laser guide star wavefront sensors of ULTIMATE-Subaru, a Ground Layer Adaptive Optics project at the Subaru telescope. In the case of a laser guide star wavefront sensor, the wavefront tip-tilt component is filtered out in the measurement due to the tip-tilt indetermination effect. With the rolling shutter readout, the tip-tilt component can alias onto the higher-order wavefront components, it becomes a problem for the wavefront measurement. Firstly, we identify the particular modes that are aliased onto, as well as the frequency response of this aliasing. As a result, it is confirmed that when the oscillation frequency of tip-tilt is faster than about 10% of the sampling frequency of the detector, it is partially measured as higher-order components such as coma and trefoil. We also conduct a wavefront measurement experiment using the ORCA-Flash4.0 v2 sCMOS detector manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics. The experiment with the optical system shows consistent results as the simulation. Finally, we estimate the effect of aliasing from the tip-tilt components of the atmospheric turbulence, telescope vibration, and laser guide star jitter using a end-to-end adaptive optics simulation.
We present the current status of the ULTIMATE-Subaru Tomography Adaptive optics Research experimenT (ULTIMATE-START) project, an upcoming laser tomography adaptive optics (LTAO) system on the Subaru telescope. The main goal of this project is to realize high Strehl ratio AO correction not only in near-infrared bands but also in visible bands above 600 nm. Our LTAO system will be operated with four 32 × 32 Shack Hartmann wavefront sensors (SH-WFSs) and four laser guide stars (LGSs). The LTAO WFSs will be installed behind AO188, which is the current AO system on the Nasmyth platform of the Subaru telescope. We will use the low-order WFS and DM of AO188 for Tip-Tilt measurements with a natural guide star (NGS) and wavefront correction. The DM of AO188 will be upgraded to a 3228 element DM. Assembling of the LTAO WFS system has completed in 2022. Currently WFS data acquisition and tomographic wavefront (WF) estimation testing are underway. We also performed test observations of a prototype single SH-WFS unit with a NGS and LGS with the Subaru telescope. A new laser launching system has been installed. A single LGS is under on-sky performance verification for the open-use observations, and four LGS system, which can make an asterism with 10-40 arcsec diameter, will be installed in 2022. The first light of the entire LTAO system is planned in early 2023.
Near-INfrared and optical Joint spectrograph with Adaptive optics (NINJA) is an optical to near-infrared (NIR) spectrograph optimized for the laser tomography adaptive optics (LTAO) system at the Subaru telescope, realized by the adaptive secondary mirror and four-laser guide star (LGS) system now under development. One of the primary science objectives of this spectrograph is wide-band spectroscopic follow-up of transient sources like GRB, supernovae, or gravitational wave sources down to 22 mag in the J -band. NINJA consists of two spectrograph units, one is in the optical (0.35-0.85 µm) and the other in the NIR (0.85-2.5 µm), and a fore-optics which splits the light from the telescope to the spectrographs and wavefront sensors (WFSs) of LTAO. Each spectrograph has a slit with 0.35′′ wide and 5′′ long, and a spectral resolution of R=3000-4000 utilizing a grating. The four LGSs are planned to be arranged on a circle around the slit with a radius of about 8′′, and a patrol field of view (FoV) of a tip-tilt guide star is about 2′ diameter. With two dichroic mirrors, the fore-optics splits the light of the FoV into three wavelength ranges of 0.35-0.85 µm, 0.85-2.5 µm, and 0.589 µm for LGS. In this paper, we report the overall system of NINJA and a conceptual design of the optics.
We develop a covariance-based analytical algorithm to efficiently predict the performance of complex tomographic AO systems based Shack-Hartmann WFSs (SH-WFS). The algorithm produces a predicted point spread function (PSF) and a decomposed wavefront error for each error term and is implemented using GPU and CUDA libraries for efficient computation. In this paper, we introduce the basis of our algorithm and show the prediction results, computational speed, and comparison with end-to-end simulations for the ULTIMATE-SUBARU GLAO and LTAO systems as test cases.
SMI (SPICA Mid-infrared Instrument) is one of the three focal-plane science instruments for SPICA. SMI is the Japanese-led instrument proposed and managed by a university consortium. SMI covers the wavelength range from 10 to 36 μm with four separate channels: the low-resolution (R = 60 – 160) spectroscopy function for 17 – 36 μm, the broad-band (R = 5) imaging function at 34 μm, the mid-resolution (R = 1400 – 2600) spectroscopy function for 18 – 36 μm, and the high-resolution (R = 29000) spectroscopy function for 10 – 18 μm. In this presentation, we will show the latest design and specifications of SMI as a result of feasibility studies.
In order to measure the altitude profile of the atmospheric turbulence in real-time, we are applying a MASSDIMM method (Multi Aperture Scintillation Sensor and Differential Image Motion Monitor) to the ShackHartmann wavefront sensor data. Tomographic estimation of the atmospheric turbulence is a key technique in new generation of adaptive optics systems with multiple guide stars, and the real-time turbulence profiling provide a useful prior information for the tomography, which is an ill-posed inverse problem. By using the data of a Shack-Hartmann sensor, a turbulence profile in the same direction as the AO correction can be acquired. Moreover, since more information can be used compared with the traditional MASS-DIMM, the resolution in the height direction can be increased. This time, the data of the Shack-Hartmann sensor attached to Tohoku University 50cm telescope was analyzed, and the estimation of the turbulence profile was obtained. Similar profiles were obtained while the elevation of the star and the apparent distance to the turbulence changed in one hour monitoring measurements. The results supported the validity of the method.
Currently, two AO systems are operated at Subaru Telescope: AO188, which is a facility AO system, and SCExAO, which is a PI-type ExAO system operated behind AO188. In the next 5 year, large-scale upgrades are performed on AO188 for improving the AO performance and operation of AO188 and SCExAO and for the technical demonstration toward the future wide-field ULTIMATE-Subaru GLAO system at Subaru and an ExAO system at TMT, PSI. We are planning to upgrade the real-time control system, the LGS system, and bimorph DM. Also, a new NIR WFS, a LTAO WFS unit, and a beam-switching system will be installed into the Nasmyth IR platform. The installation of the LTAO WFS unit is a part of the ULTIMATE-START project, which implement a LTAO mode into AO188 and demonstrates technologies for the ULTIMATE-Subaru GLAO system. ULTIMATE-Subaru project aims at developing a next-generation, wide-field GLAO system and wide-field NIR instruments for Subaru Telescope, whose first light will be in FY2025.
ULTIMATE-Subaru is a next large facility instrument project at Subaru telescope. We will develop a 14x14 sq. arcmin wide-field near-infrared (NIR) imager and a multi-object spectrograph with the aid of a ground- layer adaptive optics system (GLAO), which will uniformly improve the seeing by a factor of 2 over a wide field of view up to ~20 arcmin in diameter. We have developed system modeling of the GLAO and wide-field NIR instruments to define the system level requirements flow down from science cases and derive the system performance budgets based on the GLAO end-to-end numerical simulation and optical system models of the telescope and wide-field NIR science instruments. In this paper, we describe the system performance modeling of ULTIMATE-Subaru and present an overview of the requirements flow down.
We present the results of the evaluation of the ensquared energy of eight commercially available and custom made Microlens arrays (MLAs) with different focal length Plano-Convex microlens. The highest efficiency is observed with a 300 μm pitch MLA with no AR-coating and square apertures, which show 79% light ensquared within the first dark ring compared to the uniform illumination of the sub-aperture. To quantitatively explain the observed difference in the ensquared energy, we measured the surface shape of these MLAs using a laser interferometer. The comparison between the ensquared energy and the surface shape inferred that the lower ensquared energy of a MLA than the other MLAs with same 300 μm pitch can be explained with the deviation of the ideal shape at the outer part of the each lens.
ULTIMATE-Subaru Tomography Adaptive optics Research experimenT (ULTIMATE-START) is a laser tomography AO project on the Subaru telescope. The project is planned to achieve high Strehl Ratio AO correction in NIR bands, and moderate AO correction in visible bands above 600nm. An asterism of 4 laser guide stars (LGSs) will be launched from the laser launching telescope behind the secondary mirror. The tomography wavefront sensing unit with four 32$times$32 Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors will be installed behind the current facility LGS AO system, AO188. The deformable mirror of AO188 will be upgraded to a 64$times$64 element DM. The corrected light will be fed to the optical integral field spectrograph, 3DII, and NIR camera and spectrograph, IRCS, through a beam switching optics for IR-side Nasmyth focus instruments under development. The first light of the laser launching system and wavefront sensing unit is planned in 2021.
ULTIMATE-Subaru is a next large facility instrument project at Subaru telescope. We will develop a 14x14 arcmin2 wide-field near-infrared (1.0-2.5μm) imager and a multi-object spectrograph with the aid of a ground- layer adaptive optics system (GLAO), which will uniformly improve the seeing by a factor of 2 over a wide field of view up to ~20 arcmin in diameter. The expected spatial resolution by the GLAO correction is about 0.2 arcsec FWHM in K-band under moderate seeing conditions at Subaru telescope. ULTIMATE-Subaru will provide a unique capability to realize wide-field and high spatial resolution survey observations in near infrared in the era of TMT. In this paper, we introduce the project overview including the GLAO and near-infrared instrument conceptual design. We also describe the future wide-field strategy at Subaru telescope with ULTIMATE-Subaru together with HSC and PFS.
We report the current status of the laser guide star upgrade at Subaru Telescope with a new, more powerful TOPTICA/MPBC laser. While we recycle many of our existing components, such as laser launch telescope, we need to design a new mirror-based laser relay system to replace the current fiber-based relay to accommodate the high power beam. The laser unit has been delivered to Subaru office in March 2018 and installed in a testing lab in June 2018. We describe the preliminary design and its requirements and report future plans. This upgrade will not only improve our current adaptive optics system but also be the first step toward the future laser tomography and ground layer adaptive optics system at Subaru Telescope.
We report on the conceptual design study done for the Ground Layer Adaptive Optics system of the ULTIMATE-Subaru project. This is an ambitious instrument project, providing GLAO correction in a square field of view of 14 arcmin on a side, aiming to deliver improved seeing at the near infrared wavelength. Its client instruments are an imager and multi-IFU spectrograph at Cassegrain and a Multi-Object spectrograph at Nasmyth. In this paper, we introduce the ULTIMATE-Subaru project overview and its science case and report the results of the GLAO performance prediction based on the numerical simulation and conceptual design of the wavefront sensor system.
This paper presents the overview of on-going and future adaptive optics (AO) activities at the Subaru telescope on the top of Maunakea in Hawaii. Currently, two AO systems are running at the Subaru telescope: AO188, a facility single-conjugate AO system with a bimorph deformable mirror and a curvature wavefront sensor with 188 elements, and SCExAO, an additional extreme AO system operating behind AO188 and specialized for exoplanet sciences. We recently started AO188 upgrade project to improve its performance for the next 5-10 years, which will also help improving SCExAO performance. These upgrades are in line with a development for the ULTIMATE-Subaru ground layer AO system.
The Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) is a powerful new instrument being built to facility- class standards for the Gemini telescope. It takes advantage of the latest developments in adaptive optics and integral field spectrographs. GIRMOS will carry out simultaneous high-angular-resolution, spatially-resolved infrared (1 - 2.4 µm) spectroscopy of four objects within a two-arcminute field-of-regard by taking advantage of multi-object adaptive optics. This capability does not currently exist anywhere in the world and therefore offers significant scientific gains over a very broad range of topics in astronomical research. For example, current programs for high redshift galaxies are pushing the limits of what is possible with infrared spectroscopy at 8 -10- meter class facilities by requiring up to several nights of observing time per target. Therefore, the observation of multiple objects simultaneously with adaptive optics is absolutely necessary to make effective use of telescope time and obtain statistically significant samples for high redshift science. With an expected commissioning date of 2023, GIRMOS’s capabilities will also make it a key followup instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope when it is launched in 2021, as well as a true scientific and technical pathfinder for future Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) multi-object spectroscopic instrumentation. In this paper, we will present an overview of this instrument’s capabilities and overall architecture. We also highlight how this instrument lays the ground work for a future TMT early-light instrument.
Prior statistical knowledge of the turbulence such as turbulence strength, layer altitudes and the outer scale is essential for atmospheric tomography in adaptive-optics (AO). These atmospheric parameters can be estimated from measurements of multiple Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensors (SH-WFSs) by the SLOpe Detection And Ranging (SLODAR). In this paper, we present the statistics of the vertical CN2 and the outer scale L0 at Maunakea in Hawaii estimated from 60 hours telemetry data in total from multiple SH-WFSs of RAVEN, which is an on-sky multi-object AO demonstrator tested on the Subaru telescope. The mean seeing during the RAVEN on-sky observations is 0.475 arcsec, and 55% turbulence is below 1.5 km. The vertical profile of CN2 from the RAVEN SLODAR is consistent with the profiles from CFHT DIMM and MASS, and TMT site characterization.
This paper presents the AO performance we got on-sky with RAVEN, a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) technical and science demonstrator installed and tested at the Subaru telescope. We report Ensquared-Energy (EE) and Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) measured from science images on Subaru's IRCS taken during all of the on-sky observing runs. We show these metrics as function of different AO modes and atmospheric conditions for two asterisms of natural guide stars. The performances of the MOAO and Ground-Layer AO (GLAO) modes are between the classical Single-Conjugate AO (SCAO) and seeing-limited modes. We achieve the EE of 30% in H-band with the MOAO correction, which is a science requirement for RAVEN. The MOAO provides sightly better performance than the GLAO mode in both asterisms. One of the reasons which cause this small difference between the MOAO and GLAO modes may be the strong GL contribution. Also, the performance of the MOAO modes is affected by the accuracy of the on-sky turbulence profiling by the SLOpe Detection And Ranging (SLODAR) method.
A future plan for the next-generation Subaru adaptive optics, is a system based on an adaptive secondary mirror. A ground-layer adaptive optics combined with a new wide-field multi-object infrared camera and spectrograph will be a main application of the adaptive secondary mirror. A preliminary simulation results show that the resolution achieved by the ground-layer adaptive optics is expected to be better than 0.2 arcsecond in the K-band over 15 arcminutes field-of-view. In this paper, the performance simulation is updated taking dependence on observation conditions, the zenith angle and the season, into account.
We are conducting a concept study on a wide field of regard (FoR) Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) system for Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT-AGE: TMT-Analyzer for Galaxies in the Early universe). The main science target of TMT-AGE is high-redshift galaxies. Considering the small number density of high-redshift galaxies, enlarging the FoR of an MOAO system up to around 100 is critical. In order to increase the FoR of an MOAO system, we propose a new tomographic reconstruction method. In the new method, we use atmospheric wind profiles and WFS measurements at previous time steps to increase the number of virtual measurement points of atmospheric turbulence layers for tomographic reconstruction. We present the results of numerical simulations with the new tomography method. The simulations show the new method can reduce the tomographic error in a wide FoR.
We introduce current status of the feasibility study on a wide field of regard (FoR) Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) system for TMT (TMT-AGE: TMT-Analyzer for Galaxies in the Early universe). MOAO is a system which realize high spatial-resolution observations of multiple objects scattered in a wide FoR. In this study, we put emphasise on the FoR as wide as 10′ diameter. The wide FoR is crucial to effectively observe very high-redshift galaxies, which have low surface number density. Simulations of an MOAO system with 8 LGSs show close-to-diffraction-limited correction can be achieved within 5′ diameter FoR and moderate AO correction can be achieved within 10′ diameter FoR. We discuss overall system design of the wide FoR MOAO system considering the constraint from the stroke of small-size deformable mirror (DM). We also introduce current status of developments of key components of an MOAO system; high-dynamic range wavefront sensor (WFS) and large-stroke small-size DM, and real time computer (RTC) with fast tomographic reconstruction.
The project, "ULTIMATE- SUBARU", stands for "Ultra-wide Laser Tomographic Imager and MOS with AO for Transcendent Exploration at SUBARU Telescope." ULTIMATE-SUBARU provides a wide-field near infrared instrument at Cassegrain focus with GLAO. Performance simulation of GLAO at Subaru Telescope indicates that uniform PSFs can be obtained across the field of view up to 20 arcmin in diameter. This paper describes a current status of ULTIMATE-SUBARU project, science objectives, performance simulation update, system overview, feasibility of adaptive secondary mirror, and laser system.
Raven is a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) technical and science demonstrator which had its first light at the Subaru telescope on May 13-14, 2014. Raven was built and tested at the University of Victoria AO Lab before shipping to Hawai`i. Raven includes three open loop wavefront sensors (WFSs), a central laser guide star WFS, and two independent science channels feeding light to the Subaru IRCS spectrograph. Raven supports different kinds of AO correction: SCAO, open-loop GLAO and MOAO. The MOAO mode can use different tomographic reconstructors, such as Learn-and-Apply or a model-based reconstructor. This paper presents the latest results obtained in the lab, which are consistent with simulated performance, as well as preliminary on-sky results, including echelle spectra from IRCS. Ensquared energy obtained on sky in 140mas slit is 17%, 30% and 41% for GLAO, MOAO and SCAO respectively. This result confirms that MOAO can provide a level of correction in between GLAO and SCAO, in any direction of the field of regard, regardless of the science target brightness.
We propose, design and fabricate here an electrostatically actuated continuous single-crystal-silicon membrane deformable mirror (DM) for astronomical observation. To get a large stroke, a bimorph spring array is used to generate a large air gap between the mirror membrane and the electrode. A DM with a 1.8mm×1.8mm mirror membrane are fabricated by combining Au-Si eutectic wafer bonding and the subsequent all-dry release process. The stroke of the DM is 3.5μm at 115V. The influence function on the nearest neighbor is 51%. The fill factor of the DM is 99.9%.
Fiber Multi Object Spectrograph “FMOS” on Subaru Telescope is capable of configuring 400 fibers on the 30-
arcmin diameter field of view at the prime focus for near-infrared (0.9–1.8 μm) spectroscopy, and this instrument
has been open as a common-use instrument since May 2010. In this article, an overview of the instrument is
given first, and then the typical operational sequence in science observation and a few notable features of the
instrument are explained. In (see manuscript) 5, the instrument performance in terms of fiber positioning, auto guiding, and
sensitivity to emission lines are highlighted. Recently (since March 2012) a Subaru Strategic Program (SSP)
has started with FMOS to conduct a wide-field galaxy survey for a cosmological experiment. Upgrading fiber
configuration by using a “metrology camera” has also been under discussion, which will enable to measure the
positions of the 400 fibers quickly and shorten the fiber configuration time significantly. We will also report the
status of these recent activities.
We are conducting AO development activities in Tohoku university targeting Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) system for the next generation ground-based large telescopes. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the tomographic estimation, which is a key of an MOAO system, we assembled a test optical bench to simulate an MOAO system in our optical lab. The system consists with 1) four light sources with single-mode fibers simulating three guide stars and one target object, 2) multiple phase plates simulating atmospheric turbulence structure, and 3) 4 Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors. Wavefront data from the sensors are reduced with the tomographic algorithm. The evaluation of the accuracy of the tomographic wavefront reconstruction is underway. Additionally, evaluation of an open-loop control of an AO system is underway using an independent module. Once the accuracy of the open-loop control is established, the module will be installed in the tomography test bench and the entire system will be evaluated as an MOAO system. In parallel, we are conducting a development of a large stroke (20μm) Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) deformable mirror with large number of elements (<3000). Current status of the development is described.
A wide-field adaptive optics system based on an adaptive secondary mirror (ASM) is one of a future plan for
the next-generation Subaru adaptive optics system. The main application of ASM based AO will be a groundlayer
adaptive optics (GLAO) with field-of-view larger than 10 arc minutes. The high Strehl-ratio of on-source correction by high-order ASM (expected to be about 1000) and the reduction of emissivity are also attractive points. In this paper, we report a preliminary result of simulations for the these applications of ASM to study conceptual design of the next-generation wide-field Subaru adaptive optics.
We started adaptive optics (AO) development activities in Tohoku university targeting Multi-Object Adaptive
Optics (MOAO) system for the next generation ground-based large telescopes. In order to realize an MOAO
system, we are currently conducting two R&Ds. First one is a development of a large stroke (20μm) Micro Electro
Mechanical Systems (MEMS) deformable mirror with large number of elements (>3000) which is necessary to
achieve mild Strehl Ratio in an AO systems for 30m class telescopes. Based on our original design to achieve
the requirements, prototyping of the device is currently underway using the MEMS development facility in our
university. Second one is a consideration of tomographic algorithm for the wavefront estimation required for
an MOAO system. The algorithm will be tested on a test bench simulating multiple guide stars and wavefront
sensors. Concept design of the test bench is shown. MEMS-DM and MOAO testbed developments will be
concluded by 2013.
The Fibre Multi-Object Spectrograph for Subaru Telescope (FMOS) is a near-infrared instrument with 400
fibres in a 30' filed of view at F/2 prime focus. To observe 400 objects simultaneously, we have developed a fibre
positioner called "Echidna" using a tube piezo actuator. We have also developed two OH-airglow suppressed and
refrigerated spectrographs. Each spectrograph has two spectral resolution modes: the low-resolution mode and
the high-resolution mode. The low-resolution mode covers the complete wavelength range of 0.9 - 1.8 μm with
one exposure, while the high-resolution mode requires four exposures at different camera positions to cover the
full wavelength range. The first light was accomplished in May 2008. The science observations and the open-use
observations begin in May 2010.
In the context of instrumentation for Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs), an Integral Field Spectrographs
(IFSs), fed with a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) system, has many scientific and technical advantages.
Integrated with an ELT, a MOAO system will allow the simultaneous observation of up to 20 targets in a several
arc-minute field-of-view, each target being viewed with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. However,
before building a MOAO instrument for an ELT, several critical issues, such as open-loop control and calibration,
must be solved. The Adaptive Optics Laboratory of the University of Victoria, in collaboration with the Herzberg
Institute of Astrophysics, the Subaru telescope and two industrial partners, is starting the construction of a
MOAO pathfinder, called Raven. The goal of Raven is two-fold: first, Raven has to demonstrate that MOAO
technical challenges can be solved and implemented reliably for routine on-sky observations. Secondly, Raven
must demonstrate that reliable science can be delivered with multiplexed AO systems. In order to achieve these
goals, the Raven science channels will be coupled to the Subaru's spectrograph (IRCS) on the infrared Nasmyth
platform. This paper will present the status of the project, including the conceptual instrument design and a
discussion of the science program.
Echidna is a fiber positioner designed and built by the Anglo-Australian Observatory using novel technology
to position 400 fibers in the prime focus field of the Subaru telescope. The fibers feed two near infrared OH-suppression
spectrographs, the whole project being known as Fiber Multi Object Spectrograph (FMOS). In order
to accommodate the large number of the fibers in the physically limited area, a new fiber positioning method is
developed. Stand-alone tests of the positioner at sea level confirm its performance is fully satisfactory. Initial
results and prospects of the on-sky commissioning tests of the positioner are also described.
FMOS: the Fiber Multiple-Object Spectrograph is the next common-use instrument of the Subaru Telescope,
having a capability of 400 targets multiplicity in the near-infrared 0.9-1.8μm wavelength range with a field
coverage of 30' diameter. FMOS consists of three units: 1) the prime focus unit including the corrector lenses,
the Echidna fiber positioner, and the instrument-bay to adjust the instrument focus and shift the axis of the
corrector lens system, 2) the fiber bundle unit equipping two fiber slits on one end and a fiber connector box with
the back-illumination mechanism on the other end on the bundle, 3) the two infrared spectrographs (IRS1 and
IRS2) to obtain 2×200 spectra simultaneously. After all the components were installed in the telescope at the
end of 2007, the total performance was checked through various tests and engineering observations. We report
the results of these tests and demonstrate the performance of FMOS.
The UK FMOS spectrograph forms part of Subaru's FMOS multi-object infrared spectroscopy facility. The spectrograph
was shipped to Hilo in component form in August of 2007. We describe the integration sequence for the spectrograph,
the results of cooldown tests using a new chiller unit fitted to the spectrograph at the telescope, and alignment tests of the
spectrograph, gratings and OH-suppression masks. We present the first-light observations for the spectrograph from May
2008.
Fibre Multi-Object Spectrograph (FMOS) is the next common-use instrument of Subaru Telescope. FMOS consists of
three subsystems; the Prime focus unit for Infrared (PIR), the fibre positioning system/connector units, and the two
infrared spectrographs. The PIR was transferred to the Subaru Observatory in the spring of 2005 to check the optical
performance on the telescope. As a result of the test observation, we found that the adjustment of the optical axis
between PIR and the primary mirror was difficult with the initial design of the corrector alignment stage. Furthermore,
the optical axis of the telescope moved over a little owing to an earthquake in Hawaii Island in Oct. 2006. Therefore we
decided to modify mechanical structure of PIR, the corrector alignment stage as well as the cable wrapping system. This
modification was completed in the summer of 2007. In this proceeding, we report the mechanical structure of the new
PIR and the results of the engineering observations.
Fibre Multi-Object Spectrograph (FMOS) is one of the second-generation instruments of Subaru Telescope. FMOS is consisted of a number of subsystems; the Prime focus unit for IR (called PIR), the fibre positioning system/connector units, and the two spectrographs. The PIR and one spectrograph were made in Kyoto University, and were brought to the Subaru telescope last spring. The PIR attached to the telescope and stellar images were obtained for optical alignment in July and October last year. We report on these engineering run in this proceeding.
The design, development, operation and current performance of MOS (multi-object spectroscopy) mode of MOIRCS is described. MOIRCS (Multi-Object Infrared Camera and Spectrograph) is one of the second-generation instruments for the Subaru Telescope and provides imaging and MOS modes with a 4' × 7' field of view for a wavelength range from 0.85 to 2.5 μm. To achieve near-infrared (NIR) MOS up to K-band, MOS mode uses multi-slit masks and a mask exchange system in a cryogenic environment. The masks are housed in a vacuum dewar attached to the MOIRCS main dewar and separated by a large gate valve. The mask dewar is equipped with its own cryogenic cooler and a vacuum pump and is capable of storing eighteen masks. The masks are made of thin aluminum foil. Slits are cut with a laser, with software that corrects for the effects of thermal contraction. The masks are cooled to below 130 K in the mask dewar and transported to the focal plane in the main dewar through the gate valve with a linear motion manipulator. An interlock is equipped on the mask exchange system to secure the cryogenic instrument from accident. Replacing masks can be done in the daytime without breaking the vacuum of the main dewar by isolating the mask dewar with the gate valve. Acquisition occurs by iteratively taking on-sky images through alignment holes on the mask until the rotation and offset between alignment stars and alignment holes become small enough. MOIRCS/MOS mode will be open to the public in late 2006.
The Fiber Multiple-Object Spectrograph for Subaru Telescope (FMOS) is quite large instrument composed of
the prime focus unit, the fiber bundle unit, and the two infrared spectrographs. Among these units, a part of the
prime focus unit and one of the spectrograph were transported from Kyoto University to the Subaru Observatory
in the middle of 2005. We present the optical and the mechanical components of the spectrograph, which was
reassembled on the new floor of the Subaru dome. We also show the preliminary results of the optical alignment
and the cooling test of the instrument at the summit of Mauna Kea.
The Fibre Multi-Object Spectrograph (FMOS) for the primary focus
of Subaru Telescope is one of the second generation
instruments, aiming at acquiring spectra of faint objects with
target multiplicity of up to 400. The optimised wavelengths span
from 0.9 to 1.8 microns so as to extend our knowledge of galaxy
formations and evolutions at higher redshifts in a systematic way,
as well as of variety of intriguing near-infrared objects.
On the basis of detailed design of FMOS, actual processes of
fabrication are in progress, and some of critical hardware
components have successfully been developed. In this report,
we present the status of the FMOS project, the results of
developed components, and also instrument control systems such
as the new detector electronics as well the related contol
softwares.
The Subaru Telescope has been stably operated with high image quality since common use began in December 2000. We have updated the following items in order to achieve further improvement of observation efficiency, image quality, and tracking. 1. High reflectivity of mirrors. The reflectivity of the primary mirror has been maintained, yielding 84% at 670 nm by regular CO2 cleaning (every two to three weeks). We successfully carried out the silver coating of the Infrared secondary mirror in April 2003 without over-coating. The reflectivity has been maintained at greater 98% at 1,300 nm. 2. Image Quality. Subaru telescope delivers exceptional image quality {a median image size of 0.6 arc-second FWHM in the R-band as taken by Auto-Guider Cameras at all four foci; Prime, Cassegrain, and two Nasmyth. We optimized parameters of the servo control system of the Elevation servo, reducing the amplitude of 3{8 Hz vibration mode of the telescope and improving image quality when using the Adaptive Optics (AO) system. 3. Acquisition Guiding. Dithering time was shortened by updating the control software. The slit viewer camera for HDS and the fiber bundle for FMOS are available for acquisition guiding in addition to Auto-Guider Cameras. 4. New instruments. We are developing a new prime focus unit for FMOS and will start functional tests in 2005. Moreover, we have started to prepare new interfaces and facilities for FMOS and the new 188 element AO natural/laser guide star system. The focus switching time
will be shortened by updating the hardware of the IR and Cassegrain Optical secondary mirrors from September 2004, reducing it to 10 minutes to switch the focus between Cassegrain and Nasmyth foci.
The Echidna multi-object fiber positioner is part of the Fiber Multi-Object Spectrograph (FMOS) project for the prime focus of the Subaru telescope. Given the physical size of the focal plane and the required number of fibers (400), a positioning system based on the Anglo-Australian Observatory's 2dF instrument, that incorporates the placement of magnetic buttons by a single X/Y/Z robot, was considered impractical. Instead, a solution has been developed in which each fiber is mounted on a tilting spine that allows the fiber to be positioned anywhere in a circle of radius 7 mm. Each of the 400 fibers therefore has a fixed "patrol" area in the field of view, with a significant overlap between neighboring spines. A description of a single Echidna spine is presented. Each spine is driven by a quadrant tube piezoelectric actuator (QTP) that, by a ratcheting mechanism, is able to position the fiber to within 10 μm of any coordinate in the corresponding patrol area. Results of positioning tests for eight of the twenty prototype spines reveal better than specification performance, as well as a durability far in excess of the specified lifetime of the instrument.
The Fibre Multi-Object Spectrograph (FMOS) is a second-generation common-use instrument of the Subaru telescope. Under an international collaboration scheme of Japan, UK, and Australia, a realistic design of FMOS has been already in completion, and the fabrications of hardware components have been in progress. We present the overall design details together with the special features of FMOS subsystems, such as the prime focus corrector, the prime focus mechanical unit including fiber positioners, and the near-infrared spectrograph, etc.
The Fiber Multi-Object Spectrograph (FMOS) project is an Australia-Japan-UK collaboration to design and build a novel 400 fiber positioner feeding two near infrared spectrographs from the prime focus of the Subaru telescope. The project comprises several parts. Those under design and construction at the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO) are the piezoelectric actuator driven fiber positioner (Echidna), a wide field (30 arcmin) corrector and a focal plane imager (FPI) used for controlling the positioner and for field acquisition. This paper presents an overview of the AAO share of the FMOS project. It describes the technical infrastructure required to extend the single Echidna "spine" design to a fully functioning multi-fiber instrument, capable of complete field reconfiguration in less than ten minutes. The modular Echidna system is introduced, wherein the field of view is populated by 12 identical rectangular modules, each positioning 40 science fibers and 2 guide fiber bundles. This arrangement allows maintenance by exchanging modules and minimizes the difficulties of construction. The associated electronics hardware, in itself a significant challenge, includes a 23 layer PCB board, able to supply current to each piezoelectric element in the module. The FPI is a dual purpose imaging system translating in two coordinates and is located beneath the assembled modules. The FPI measures the spine positions as well as acquiring sky images for instrument calibration and for field acquisition. An overview of the software is included.
Design concept of the fiber multi-object spectrograph (FMOS) for Subaru Telescope together with innovative ideas of optical and structural components is presented. Main features are; i) wide field coverage of 30 arcmin in diameter, ii) 400 target multiplicity, iii) 0.9 to 1.8 micrometers near-IR wavelengths, and iv) OH-airglow suppression capability. The instrument is proposed to be built under the Japan-UK-Australia international collaboration scheme.
The aim for a spectrograph feed from the Subaru prime focus is to have 400 fibers. Since the are of the field is only approximately 1/10 that of the 400 fiber two degree field system on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, placement of magnetic buttons by a robot, as done for 2df, was not considered applicable. Instead, a concept has been developed in which each fiber is held on a spine which can be tilted to position its tip anywhere within a circle. With targets randomly scattered over the field and the radial range for each spine equal to the spine pitch, the success rate in reaching targets is acceptably high. At the f/2 focus, a spine tilt of 1/20 radian is just acceptable and requires the spines be 140 mm long. Two basic mechanisms for tilting and holding such a spine have been investigated experimentally. The first uses three commercial miniature linear actuators set parallel and linked to the base of the spine through simple flexures. A prototype has been built and demonstrated to perform satisfactorily. Another approach is to mount the spine ona ball joint and drive it directly in tip and tilt using a bending piezo impact drive. A prototype of this from has been built; initial test are promising.
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