Sub-arcsecond pointing for balloon-borne telescopes

Alan Kraut; Kevin Swartzlander; Elton Wong; Graham Orr; Tony Wimer; Yusuke Nakaya; Mark Bullock; Eliot Young; Patrick Little

doi:10.1117/12.789138

10 July 2008 Sub-arcsecond pointing for balloon-borne telescopes

Alan Kraut, Kevin Swartzlander, Elton Wong, Graham Orr, Tony Wimer, Yusuke Nakaya, Mark Bullock, Eliot Young, Patrick Little

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7012, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes II; 70123Q (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789138
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

Astronomical balloon-borne telescopes have the potential to improve seeing over ground-based telescopes, but are compromised by their instability. A one-meter telescope in the Earth's stratosphere could achieve diffraction-limited seeing superior to the performance of any ground-based telescope in optical or UV wavelengths. If the stability issues could be addressed, such a telescope could be used for a variety of scientific purposes, including high- resolution optical imaging, or infrared imaging of targets that are usually precluded from ground-based systems, such as Jupiter, Saturn or Venus. An image stabilization system was developed with the goal of maintaining the position of the image to within 0.1 arcseconds on the focal plane during image acquisition. This effort requires both deriving an error signal and applying that error signal to a corrective element. Using a control loop with an optical reference provides a greater bandwidth than an inertial reference and improves control of high frequency vibrations. The control feedback signal was generated by monitoring the position of an image using a lateral effect cell. A fine steering mirror was used as a diagonal flat to control the position of the image and correct for small disturbances in pointing. To evaluate the system, vibration was induced in a synthetic image and the resultant motion of the image measured. The system was implemented and tested on a 14-inch f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Large disturbances were attenuated by a factor of 10-100, with a noise level of less than 2 arcseconds on the test telescope.

Citation Download Citation

Alan Kraut, Kevin Swartzlander, Elton Wong, Graham Orr, Tony Wimer, Yusuke Nakaya, Mark Bullock, Eliot Young, and Patrick Little "Sub-arcsecond pointing for balloon-borne telescopes", Proc. SPIE 7012, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes II, 70123Q (10 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789138

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