Large-aperture mirror array (LAMA): conceptual design for a distributed-aperture 42-meter telescope

Paul Hickson; Kenneth M. Lanzetta

doi:10.1117/12.459075

30 January 2003 Large-Aperture Mirror Array (LAMA): conceptual design for a distributed-aperture 42-meter telescope

Paul Hickson, Kenneth M. Lanzetta

Proceedings Volume 4840, Future Giant Telescopes; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.459075
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

We propose a high-density coherentarray of eighteen 10-meter liquid-mirror telescopes. Each telescope is equipped with a reflective corrector system that enables it to point and track within an eight-degree diameter accessible field of view centered on the zenith. Equipped with adaptive optics, each telescope would deliver a diffraction-limited beam to a common focal plane. There, a dichroic optical-infrared camera will provide simultaneous imaging in six wavelength bands from 0.6 to 2.2 um. Operating coherently as a Fizeau imaging interferometer, the array would be capable of achieving 4 mas resolution at 1 um and a point source sensitivity of 40 pJy (I_AB = 34.9) in a single 30 min exposure. With incoherent beam recombination it would be capable of 25 mas resolution and a point-source detection limit of 250 pJy (I_AB = 32.9) in a single 30 min exposure. The telescope uses proven technologies and could be built in a comparatively-short time.

Citation Download Citation

Paul Hickson and Kenneth M. Lanzetta "Large-Aperture Mirror Array (LAMA): conceptual design for a distributed-aperture 42-meter telescope", Proc. SPIE 4840, Future Giant Telescopes, (30 January 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.459075

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