Optical alignment of the Galileo telescope: results and on-sky test before active optics final tuning

Claudio Pernechele; Fabio Bortoletto; Andrea Cavazza; Adriano Ghedina; Franco Paulli; Roberto Ragazzoni

doi:10.1117/12.360055

27 August 1999 Optical alignment of the Galileo telescope: results and on-sky test before active optics final tuning

Claudio Pernechele, Fabio Bortoletto, Andrea Cavazza, Adriano Ghedina, Franco Paulli, Roberto Ragazzoni

Proceedings Volume 3737, Design and Engineering of Optical Systems II; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.360055
Event: Optical Systems Design and Production, 1999, Berlin, Germany

Abstract

Optical alignment is a crucial step in the commitment of a telescope. The accuracy in which it is accomplished has a deep impact in the future life of the telescope. The Galileo Telescope, sited in La Palma, is a 3.58 meters telescope with active optics and has recently undergone its final optical alignment. The result of the alignment, obtained in the so-called 'passive' mode, that is just before switching- on the active optics system, are here presented. The alignment consisted in the definitions of the mechanical axes of the structure and mirrors supports and of the optical axis of the entire telescope, using three high precision alignment telescopes and their relative targets. The final step has been to take some images on the sky looking at point like objects and to measure the point spread function in terms of full width at half maximum. The first star imaged in our 'passive alignment' test on the sky had a FWHM of 0.8 arcsec, well inside the range of the active optics system correction, making it totally usable for the following fine-tuning of the optics.

Citation Download Citation

Claudio Pernechele, Fabio Bortoletto, Andrea Cavazza, Adriano Ghedina, Franco Paulli, and Roberto Ragazzoni "Optical alignment of the Galileo telescope: results and on-sky test before active optics final tuning", Proc. SPIE 3737, Design and Engineering of Optical Systems II, (27 August 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.360055

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