MAORY stands for Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics RelaY (the name has been recently changed to MORFEO, which stands for Multiconjugate adaptive Optics For ELT Observations, thus in this article we will use MORFEO), and it is one of the instruments of the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The main function of MORFEO is to relay the light beam from the ELT focal plane to the client instrument (initially MICADO) while compensating, through a multiconjugate adaptive optics system, the effects of the atmospheric turbulence and other disturbances affecting the wavefronts coming from the scientific sources of interest.
The MORFEO instrument is designed and developed by a European consortium composed of INAF (Istituto Nazionale di AstroFisica, Italy), CNRS/INSU (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/ Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers, France), NUIG (National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland) and ESO (European Southern Observatory, Europe).
The opto-mechanical design of MORFEO has been developed in 3 dimensions, using the volume between the ELT output focal plane and the Nasmyth floor. The design uses the available volume in a very efficient way, but this poses constraints on the orientation of the optical elements and adds complexity to the AIT operations. In this paper we describe the strategy of the AIT process which will be performed at INAF-OAS Bologna (Italy), which is conceived to maximize knowledge of the instrument and thereby optimize (and, possibly, minimize) the time requested at Armazones for the AIV operations.MORFEO, formerly known with the acronym MAORY, is the Multi-Conjugated Adaptive Optics (MCAO) module for the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). MORFEO is designed to feed the Near Infrared (NIR) camera MICADO with both MCAO and Single-Conjugated AO (SCAO) operation modes. The optical configuration provides a one to one imaging of the telescope focal surface on two ports (one feeding MICADO and the other dedicated to a future instrument) and it is equipped with two post-focal deformable mirrors together with the Laser Guide Star (LGS) and Natural Guide Star (NGS) channels for wavefront sensing and tomographic reconstruction.
In this paper, we present the status of the optical configuration at the completion of the Preliminary Design Review (PDR). We will focus our attention on the tolerance analysis of the elements, consisting in both manufacturing and alignment, to provide the expected performances of the instrument after initial integration. We will also present the outcomes of the stability analysis of the instrument, consisting in rigid-body motions and thermoelastic deformations of the structure and optomechanics, used to define the procedures and benchmark to maintain the instrument performances during operation. Details on the integrated modelling, specifically developed for this purpose, will be provided.View contact details