Advanced Wide-Field Broad-Passband Refracting Field Correctors for Large Telescopes

Abstract

AbstractA preliminary 30-arcmin prime focus (f/2.0) refracting field corrector system for the University of California Ten-Meter Telescope (UC TMT) is presented which features 1/4-arcsec images containing more than 80% of the energy, over limited passbands within the wavelength range λ3300Å to λ1.0µ. Provision has been made in this system for an atmospheric dispersion corrector (ADC) but same has not yet been realized. Optical elements herein are small enough that this design could be scaled up to a Fifteen-Meter NNTT/SMT.A compact 40-arcmin internal Cassegrain (f/1.75 hyperbola to f/5.0) broad-passband (λ3300Å to λ1.0µ) corrector, suitable for imaging and multi-object spectroscopy at the UC TMT, is presented which features 1/4-arcsec images containing more than 90% of the energy when averaged over field angle and color.Three 60-arcmin external Cassegrain correctors for 300-inch f/1.8 and f/2.0 parabolic primary mirrors are presented which are suitable for a Fifteen-Meter NNTT/MMT. Image quality is comparable to the UC TMT Cassegrain corrector and it exceeds that of the UC TMT preliminary prime focus corrector system by a substantial margin. Each of these correctors contains an ADC which has been implemented in one example, eliminating 4.0 arcsec of differential atmospheric refraction with an rms residual of +/-0.10 arcsec over the broad passband (λ3300Å to λ1.0µ). A 60-arcmin external Cassegrain (f/1.8 extreme hyperbola to f/4.5) corrector with ADC yields yet a factor two in image quality but said hyperbolic primary mirror would be incompatible with angular field requirements in the thermal infrared.A (300-inch) 40-arcmin external Cassegrain (f/1.0 parabola to f/4.0) broad-passband (λ3300Å to λ1.0µ) corrector with ADC is presented. Image quality is comparable to the previous Cassegrain correctors. The practicality of this design, together with recent advances in optical manufacturing capability of large, fast, nonspherical optics, suggests that relatively inexpensive compact telescopes of very large collecting area may be possible in the near future.