Alignment of the MAM testbed to enable the micro-arcsecond astrometry performance for SIM

Renaud Goullioud; Eric E. Bloemhof

doi:10.1117/12.460720

26 February 2003 Alignment of the MAM testbed to enable micro-arcsecond astrometry performance for SIM

Renaud Goullioud, Eric E. Bloemhof

Proceedings Volume 4852, Interferometry in Space; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.460720
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

Future space-based optical interferometers, such as the Space Interferometer Mission, require fringe measurements at the picometer level in order to produce astrometric data at the micro-arc-second level. More specifically, both the position of the central starlight fringe and the change in the internal optical path of the interferometer must be measured to a few tens of picometers. The internal path is measured with a small metrology beam, whereas the starlight fringe position is estimated with a CCD sampling a large concentric annular beam. One major challenge for SIM is to align the metrology beam with the starlight beam to ensure consistency between these two sensors. The Micro-Arcsecond Metrology testbed (MAM) developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory features an optical interferometer with a white light source, all major optical components of a stellar interferometer, and heterodyne metrology sensors. The experiment is installed inside a large vacuum chamber in order to mitigate atmospheric and thermal disturbances. Both the white light and metrology sensors have been proven to work independently at the required levels. The next step is to integrate them as a micro-arc-second capable system. A complex alignment sequence has been developed in order to match the absolute tilt and shear of the metrology and starlight paths to 1 micro-radian and 10 micrometers respectively. This paper describes the MAM optical setup, the alignment process, the contribution of the fine alignment to the final performance, and how they relate to SIM.

Citation Download Citation

Renaud Goullioud and Eric E. Bloemhof "Alignment of the MAM testbed to enable micro-arcsecond astrometry performance for SIM", Proc. SPIE 4852, Interferometry in Space, (26 February 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.460720

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available