The University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory 6.5 m telescope: Development of the telescope and the control system

Abstract

The University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory Project is to construct a 6.5 m infrared-optimized telescope at the summit of Co. Chajnantor (5640 m altitude) in northern Chile. The telescope optics uses a Ritchey-Chretien type layout, with an under-sized secondary mirror to reduce stray light caused by thermal emission from the telescope structure. The primary mirror is a F/1.25 lightweight borosilicate glass (Ohara E6) mirror with honeycomb structure, which is developed by Steward Observatory Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab. The telescope has two Nasmyth foci and two folded-Cassegrain foci, which can be switched by rotating a tertiary mirror. The final focal ratio is 12.2 with a field of view of 25 arcmin in diameter. The telescope mount is a tripod-disk alt-azimuth mount. Both the azimuth and elevation axes are supported by and run on hydrostatic bearings, and they are driven by friction drives with servo motors, which are controlled by the telescope control system. It also controls the hexapod mount of the secondary mirror and the pneumatic actuators of the primary mirror support to keep good image quality during the observation. An off-axis Shack-Hartmann sensor installed in each focus measures the wavefront aberration of the telescope optics, then the misalignment between the secondary and primary mirrors is corrected by adjusting the hexapod mount while other aberrations are corrected by the deformation of the primary mirror. The force distribution of the actuators for correction will be calculated by fitting the wave-front errors with a series of bending modes of the primary mirror.