The Gemini North Adaptive Optics (GNAO) facility is the upcoming Adaptive Optics (AO) facility for Gemini North providing a state-of-the-art AO system for surveys and time domain science in the era of James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Rubin operations. GNAO will be optimized to feed the Gemini Infrared Multi Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS).
The GNAO project includes the development of a new laser guide star facility which will consist of four side launched laser beams supporting the two primary AO modes of GNAO: a wide-field mode providing an improved image quality over natural seeing for a 2-arcminute circular field-of-view using Ground Layer AO (GLAO) and a narrow-field mode providing near diffraction-limited performance over a 20 × 20 arcsecond square field-of-view using Laser Tomography AO (LTAO).
After a competitive phase A study among three teams for the conceptual design of the AO bench, one team has been selected to complete the design, build and commissioning it at the telescope. We will be presenting the overall GNAO facility design, including specifics related to the AO bench and its architectural design. We will provide updates on all subsystems of the facility.
Optical Space Domain Awareness (SDA) aims to provide high-quality angular (and possibly spectral/polarimetric) information on LEO and GEO satellites for object characterization and identification. In terms of spatial resolution, the goal is to achieve decimetric resolution for low-Earth orbit and decametric resolution for geostationary orbit (in order to monitor the satellites' immediate environment). This ambitious objective can only be achieved by combining a large telescope, a dedicated AO system optimized for the specific characteristics of SDA, differential imaging capabilities and post-processing techniques ranging from Point Spread Function estimation to data fusion, including multi-frame deconvolution. We will present an overview of the key ingredients required to achieve an efficient and operational system and the status of ONERA's new project called PROVIDENCE. It is based on a 2.5m adaptive optics telescope optimized for SDA activities. It will be installed at Observatoire de Haute Provence (in south of France) and should see its first light at the end of 2028.
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