Design and fabrication of three 1.6-meter telescopes for the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet)

W. M. Poteet; H. K. Cauthen; N. Kappler; L. G. Kappler; Byeong-Gon Park; Chung-Uk Lee; Seung-Lee Kim; Sang-Mok Cha

doi:10.1117/12.925849

27 September 2012 Design and fabrication of three 1.6-meter telescopes for the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet)

W. M. Poteet, H. K. Cauthen, N. Kappler, L. G. Kappler, Byeong-Gon Park, Chung-Uk Lee, Seung-Lee Kim, Sang-Mok Cha

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV; 84445S (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925849
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

The KMTNet telescope Project, sponsored by The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), is fabricating three wide-field equatorial mount telescopes of 1.6 meter aperture to conduct continuous observations of the Galactic bulge region to search for extra-solar planets. Southern latitude sites secured for these telescopes are SAAO (South Africa), CTIO (Chile), and SSO (Australia). A prime-focus configuration, along with a four-lens corrector achieves the 2.8 degree diagonal FOV. The basic mechanical design utilizes a scaled-up version of the successful 2MASS Telescopes built by the authors in the late 1990's. Scaling up of components has presented challenges requiring several iterations of the detailed mechanical analysis as well as the optical analysis due to interaction with mounting assemblies for the optical components. A flexure-style focus mechanism, driven by three precision actuators, moves the entire headring assembly and provides real-time focus capability, and active primary mirror cooling is implemented for the Zerodur primary. KMTNet engineering specifications are met with the current design, which uses Comsoft's Legacy PCTCS for control. A complete operational telescope and enclosure are scheduled for installation in Tucson, AZ prior to shipping the first hardware to CTIO in order to verify tracking, optical characteristics at various attitudes, and overall observatory functionality. The cameras, being fabricated by The Ohio State University Department of Astronomy, Imaging Sciences Laboratory (ISL), are proceeding in parallel with the telescope fabrication, and that interface is now fixed. Specifics of the mechanical and optical design are presented, along with the current fabrication progress and testing protocols.

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W. M. Poteet, H. K. Cauthen, N. Kappler, L. G. Kappler, Byeong-Gon Park, Chung-Uk Lee, Seung-Lee Kim, and Sang-Mok Cha "Design and fabrication of three 1.6-meter telescopes for the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet)", Proc. SPIE 8444, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IV, 84445S (27 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925849

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