Abstract
R. Ragazzoni discussed how the design and implementation of auxiliary instruments might be improved by setting the optical prescription of the telscope for each instrument separately; that procedure is allowed by active optics. This paper points out that the idea may be important in Extremely Large Telescopes and draws attention to further implications. One stimulus for using this approach is the greatly increased linear scale of the aberration problem in instruments for such telescopes. Another development included here is that the use of more than one deformable mirror in a telescope makes the technique even more powerful; with the current concepts for deformable secondary mirrors and highly segmented primary mirrors, that technology is now available. This paper also points out certain critical issues in the correction of aberrations and in optical design that are directly impacted by flexibility in the telescope's prescription. However, there can be no general theory. In each particular telescope design, the concept of the "Optimizing Telescope" calls for attention to the extent of the problems to be solved in that case and to the dynamic range available in deformable mirrors and wavefront sensors.
Published Version
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