Alignment Technique and Quality Check of the Primary Mirror of the Siberian Lidar Station

Abstract

The techniques for alignment and quality checking of the primary 2.2-m diameter mirror of the Siberian lidar station (SLS) are suggested. The results of computer simulation of the field aberrations of the primary mirror are presented, and the area of the coma-free region is estimated. The spot diagram of the SLS primary mirror is measured based on the estimates of the image size of stars transiting through the zenith. Lidar signals are numerically simulated using ray tracing in the optical design program ZEMAX, accounting for the effect of the real spot diagram of the receiving optics. The shapes of the experimentally recorded and ray tracing simulated lidar signals are compared.