Development of a wide field telescope for the NSOS-α

Abstract

The design of the Near Space Optical Survey-alpha (NSOS-α) telescope, encouraged by Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) aims to discover and catalog near-Earth asteroids, especially Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). To achieve this goal, an optical telescope with a 1.5m class primary mirror and a 5 square degree field of view will be installed and operated at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. The wide field telescope is under development and being designed by a collaboration between KASI and the NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab). A prime focus configuration was adopted and designed with a seven element wide field corrector (WFC). The main mechanical design philosophy was scaled, modified, and revised based on the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). The NSOS-α telescope will be the first dedicated observation facility for asteroid survey in the southern hemisphere using a 1.5-meter class telescope. In this paper, a summary of the optical and mechanical assemblies designed for the NSOS-α telescope will be addressed.