ORCAS Keck mission and instrument development

Eliad Peretz; Peter Wizinowich; Eduardo Marin; Richard Butler; Bert Pasquale; Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer; Scott Lilley; Luke Gers; Shui Hung Kwok; Jason Chin; Sam Ragland; Ed Wetherell; Brett Smith; John O'Meara; Marc Kassis; Greg Aldering; Susana Deustua; Rogier Windhorst; Christian Marois; Saul Perlmutter; Sara Seager; Breann Sitarski; Guillaume Filion; Jean Thomas Landry; Étienne Gauvin; J. Fowler; Rebecca Jensen-Clem; Eric L. Nielsen; Imke de Pater; Peter Plavchan; Steph Sallum; Shobita Satyapal; John Mather; Peter Kurczynski; Kayla Carmical; Jack Grossman; Andrew Lewis; Maya Wertheim; Vivian Palmer; Keshet Shavit; Kevin Hall

doi:10.1117/12.3018920

18 July 2024 ORCAS Keck mission and instrument development

Eliad Peretz, Peter Wizinowich, Eduardo Marin, Richard Butler, Bert Pasquale, Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer, Scott Lilley, Luke Gers, Shui Hung Kwok, Jason Chin, Sam Ragland, Ed Wetherell, Brett Smith, John O'Meara, Marc Kassis, Greg Aldering, Susana Deustua, Rogier Windhorst, Christian Marois, Saul Perlmutter, Sara Seager, Breann Sitarski, Guillaume Filion, Jean Thomas Landry, Étienne Gauvin, J. Fowler, Rebecca Jensen-Clem, Eric L. Nielsen, Imke de Pater, Peter Plavchan, Steph Sallum, Shobita Satyapal, John Mather, Peter Kurczynski, Kayla Carmical, Jack Grossman, Andrew Lewis, Maya Wertheim, Vivian Palmer, Keshet Shavit, Kevin Hall

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13096, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy X; 130960M (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018920
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Abstract

The Orbiting Configurable Artificial Star (ORCAS) mission in collaboration with the W. M. Keck Observatory (WMKO) is poised to deliver near diffraction limited observations in visible light. The ability to conduct such observations will enable significant scientific discoveries in fields related to Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), Dark Energy, Flux Calibration, the High Redshift Universe, Exoplanets, and the Solar System. The ORCAS team has successfully completed three primary mission development goals to enable such observations. The performance demonstration with the ORCAS Keck Instrument Demonstrator (ORKID) captured arguably the highest resolution image at visible wavelengths from a large (10 meter) segmented telescope on the ground to date. High resolution AO imaging of the galaxy UGC 4729 in Natural Guide Star (NGS) mode was performed by locking onto a foreground asteroid passing nearby, which simulated an observation with a moving guide star validating post processing capabilities and demonstrating how regions unreachable by NGS and LGS could be explored. Additionally, the ORCAS team has successfully locked onto a laser source onboard the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and closed the adaptive optics loop to perform near diffraction limited imaging at 1550 nm with the Keck 10 meter, the first demonstration of such capability with a large segmented telescope. All of these results validate the feasibility of the ORCAS mission. Following these accomplishments, ORCAS will be strongly positioned to propose a full-scale mission to upcoming opportunities.

Conference Presentation

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Eliad Peretz, Peter Wizinowich, Eduardo Marin, Richard Butler, Bert Pasquale, Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer, Scott Lilley, Luke Gers, Shui Hung Kwok, Jason Chin, Sam Ragland, Ed Wetherell, Brett Smith, John O'Meara, Marc Kassis, Greg Aldering, Susana Deustua, Rogier Windhorst, Christian Marois, Saul Perlmutter, Sara Seager, Breann Sitarski, Guillaume Filion, Jean Thomas Landry, Étienne Gauvin, J. Fowler, Rebecca Jensen-Clem, Eric L. Nielsen, Imke de Pater, Peter Plavchan, Steph Sallum, Shobita Satyapal, John Mather, Peter Kurczynski, Kayla Carmical, Jack Grossman, Andrew Lewis, Maya Wertheim, Vivian Palmer, Keshet Shavit, and Kevin Hall "ORCAS Keck mission and instrument development", Proc. SPIE 13096, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy X, 130960M (18 July 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018920

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