We present the practical experiences and results obtained in the manufacturing of tools and equipment needed for handling the telescope mirrors, the corrective process of the operation, and the maintenance of the 1.3m Colibrí telescope. These tools and equipment include those used for mounting and dismounting the M1, M2, and M3 mirrors, as well as the DDRAGO/CAGIRE instrument of the Colibrí telescope, from the observing room to the ground level outside the building, and to the vacuum chamber for aluminization of the mirrors. This also includes tools to balance the instrument and those used in the cleaning process of the mirrors. Our designs addressed the challenges of handling and maintaining the components in the limited space available in the building and at the dome of the Colibrí fast alt-az telescope.
This work presents the design, implementation, and commissioning of the infrastructure and support services of the 1.3- meter COLIBRI robotic telescope site, located at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional en San Pedro Martir, Instituto de Astronomía- UNAM, Baja California, Mexico. COLIBRI is a ground-based telescope, associated with the SVOM (Space Variable Object Monitor) mission dedicated to the study of gamma ray bursts. We share the progress on the building as well as the installations of the electrical systems, communications, air conditioning systems and security systems. We also share the strategies implemented to achieve the optimization of spaces in the building and the operation site, including technological challenges related to the process of enabling equipment to meet operating specifications and requirements.
We present the design of the tools and equipment needed for mounting and dismounting the M1, M2, and M3 mirrors and DDRAGO/CAGIRE instrument of the Colibrí telescope at the observing room floor and from there to the ground level outside the building. Also, it includes the tool needed to balance the instruments that will be attach to Nasmyth stations and the ones needed to handle the mirrors in the vacuum chamber. Our designs confront the problem of handling these components in the very limited space available in the dome of a fast alt-az telescope.
Cosmic explosions have emerged as a major field of astrophysics over the last years with our increasing capability to monitor large parts of the sky in different wavelengths and with different messengers (photons, neutrinos, and gravitational waves). In this context, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) play a very specific role, as they are the most energetic explosions in the Universe. The forthcoming Sino-French SVOM mission will make a major contribution to this scientific domain by improving our understanding of the GRB phenomenon and by allowing their use to understand the infancy of the Universe. In order to fulfill all of its scientific objectives, SVOM will be complemented by a fast robotic 1.3 m telescope, COLIBRI, with multiband photometric capabilities (from visible to infrared). This telescope is being jointly developed by France and Mexico. The telescope and one of its instruments are currently being extensively tested at OHP in France and will be installed in Mexico in spring 2023.
This work describes the architectural design for the construction of the building for the COLIBRI robotic telescope, which has a 1.3 m primary mirror and forms part of the ground segment of the SVOM (Space Variable Object Monitor) mission dedicated to the detection and study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The building is currently being installed. The building that will house the telescope will have a total height of 10 m including the dome. The center of the building will contain a concrete column with an independent foundation of the building of 2.5 m in diameter and 5.3 meter in height. In addition it will have 2 levels (floors) for the control room and observing room. In this article we share the progress achieved so far, which includes the design for the building structure, installations of the electrical, communication and network systems, air-conditioning systems, special considerations related to the environmental management of the operation site, and the start of construction. We also include the technological challenges and challenges addressed during the design process, in particular we will present our solutions to avoid heat leaks from the control room to the observing room and isolate the telescope from vibrations produced by the dome and the rest of the enclosure.
KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Actuators, Telescopes, Control systems, Finite element methods, Interfaces, Optical components, Active optics, Temperature metrology
The preliminary design for the f/5 Nasmyth tertiary mirror opto-mechanical configuration for the 6.5m Telescopio San Pedro Mártir (TSPM), to be installed at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (OAN) in the Sierra San Pedro Mártir in Baja California is presented. The proposed system consists of support and alignment of the honeycomb mirror within the cell, the correction of the optical surface deformation, both tasks by means of an active push-pull pneumatic system and the correction of the displacements and rotations transferred by the Tube support structure to the configuration by means of electro-mechanical actuators. This optical configuration and four folded Cassegrain stations will be fully defined after first light of the f/5 Cassegrain configuration, so the requirements and considerations of these positions also need to be taken into account.
We present the optical design, the error budget, the differential distortion budget and the baffle design of the Telescopio San Pedro Mártir f/5 Nasmyth configuration. The TSPM in its Cassegrain configuration will be assembled around a closed design (converted MMT/Magellan telescope) with most of its optical parts already manufactured. To anticipate for future possible upgrades, the project includes the design of an extreme f/5 Nasmyth configuration. Our optical design demonstrates the feasibility of the configuration, closes the interfaces to the telescope, provides a full picture of the expected performance, and identifies the critical points involved in the configuration.
The Telescopio San Pedro Martir project intends to construct a 6.5m telescope to be installed at the Observatorio Astron´omico Nacional in the Sierra San Pedro M´artir in northern Baja California, Mexico. The project is an association of Mexican institutions, lead by the Instituto Nacional de Astrofısica, Optica y Electronica and UNAM’s Instituto de Astronomia, in partnership with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the University of Arizona’s Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory. The project is advancing through the design stage, having completed five design reviews of different subsystems in 2016 and 2017 (enclosure and services: PDR, CDR; optical design: PDR; optics: progress review; telescope: PDR). Once completed, the partners plan to operate the MMT and TSPM as a binational astrophysical observatory.
The Telescopio San Pedro Mártir project intends to construct a 6.5m telescope to be installed at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in the Sierra San Pedro Mártir in northern Baja California, Mexico. The project is an association of Mexican institutions, lead by the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica and the Instituto de Astronomía at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, in partnership with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the University of Arizona’s Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory. The project is currently in the planning and design stage. Once completed, the partners plan to operate the MMT and TSPM as a binational astrophysical observatory.
The Reionization and Transients InfraRed camera (RATIR) is a simultaneous optical/NIR multi-band imaging
camera which is 100% time-dedicated to the followup of Gamma-ray Bursts. The camera is mounted on the
1.5-meter Johnson telescope of the Mexican Observatorio Astronomico Nacional on Sierra San Pedro Martir in
Baja California. With rapid slew capability and autonomous interrupt capabilities, the system will image GRBs
in 6 bands (i, r, Z, Y, J, and H) within minutes of receiving a satellite position, detecting optically faint afterglows
in the NIR and quickly alerting the community to potential GRBs at high redshift (z>6-10). We report here
on this Spring's first light observing campaign with RATIR. We summarize the instrumental characteristics,
capabilities, and observing modes.
ESOPO will be a spectrograph of medium resolution for the 2.1 m telescope of the National Observatory at San
Pedro Martir, Baja California, Mexico. It has been developed by the Instituto de Astronomia of the Universidad
Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (IA-UNAM). The main goal of this instrument is to modernize the capabilities
of making science with that particular telescope. It is planned to achieve a spectral resolution between 500 and
5000. ESOPO is split into two arms; each one specialized in a specific wavelength range covering together all the
visible light. A very important issue in spectrographs is to avoid inside thermal gradients. Different temperatures
in the optical elements produce mechanical movements and image quality degradation during an exposition. The
error budget analysis developed for ESOPO allows establishing the required limits for temperature gradients. In
this paper is described the thermal analysis of the spectrograph, including specifications, finite element models,
thermal equations and expected thermal gradients.
This work presents the specifications, requirements, design, finite element analysis and results of the assembled
subsystems: slit-mask, and the acquisition and guiding zone mechanisms of the ESOPO spectrograph. This spectrograph
is a project of the Institute of Astronomy, National University of Mexico.
The structure of the spectrograph ESOPO is the stiff mount that will maintain fixed all optics elements, electronics and
mechanical subsystems. The ESOPO spectrograph is a project of the "Instituto de Astronomia de la Universidad
Nacional Autonoma de Mexico" (IAUNAM) to upgrade its 2.1m telescope as a competitive facility for the next decade.
The scientific purpose is to obtain a modern high efficient intermediate-low dispersion spectrograph optimized for the
3500 - 9000 Å spectral interval with a spectral resolution of 500 ≤ R ≤ 5000. It is to be used at the cassegrain f/7.5 focus
of the 2.1 m telescope for general astronomical purposes. This work presents the mechanical design process and the form
in which the structure was verified to comply with the ESOPO's top level image quality and stability requirements. The
latter was not a lineal process. The way we resolved it is to run FEAs on the complete system and with the instrument in
different operation positions during a normal cycle of observations. These results are validated through the error budget
of the ESOPO. The structure is currently under construction.
In this paper we present the Medium Resolution Spectrograph ESOPO, an instrument designed and built for the 2.1m
Telescope at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional at San Pedro Mártir. We discuss the Scientific Goals and the High
Level Requirements necessary to translate these goals to optical, mechanical and control specifications. We make an
introduction to its conceptual dual-arm design. The optical design is based on a non-classical configuration. The gratings
are illuminated in a conical mode working in a quasi Littrow configuration which has the advantage of optimizing the
efficiency and the pupil area on the grating. We show here the results of an experimental evaluation of the concept. The
optical design, mechanical structure, slit-mask and acquisition system, control systems, and a study of thermal
compensators, are discussed briefly, references to more extended contributions in these proceedings are made. The
management schematics of the project are briefly discussed.
In the polishing process, the wear tends to be greater when the tool extends beyond the edge of the workpiece. A linear pressure distribution (between the tool and the workpiece) has been used to explain this effect, however, this model also can predict negative pressures. This could mean that material is deposited instead of being removed. We present a new pressure distribution proposal, which presents like a skin effect. This means that the pressure is significantly higher at the border points than at internal points of the glass. With this model the material removal at the border points is increased considerably since, according to Preston, the wear is proportional to the pressure. This pressure distribution model is applied to calculate the wear produced by a square tool on a glass border moving along straight lines.
We describe the recent upgrade of the Manchester Echelle Spectrometer, currently in use at San Pedro Mártir. This upgrade has included a user interface and a new CCD acquisition software. The spectrometer control is now done by a microcontroller, whose inputs are new sensors and encoders installed inside the spectrometer. The instrument control is now fully carried out from a graphical user interface running in a personal computer. The acquisition computer sends the images to the GUI through an ethernet link. In this paper, we present the general scheme and the programs developed for Linux (in C++ and Tcl/Tk) that permits an easy integral operation of the instrument, as well as the creation of scripts intended to the optimization of the observing run and the future interaction with the telescope and the guider. This upgraded system has been operated successfully during several campaigns in the 2.1-meter telescope at Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in San Pedro Mártir.
The Mexican Infrared Telescope is one of the most important projects in the Institute for Astronomy of the National University of Mexico. As part of the design we pretend to simulate different components of the telescope by the Finite Element Method (FEM). One of the most important parts of the structure is the primary mirror support. This structure is under stress, causing deformations in the primary mirror; these deformations shouldn't be over 40 nanometers, which is the maximum permissible tolerance. One of the most interesting subjects to develop in this project is to make the segmented primary mirror to work like if it were a monolithic one. Each segment has six degrees of freedom, whose control needs actuators and sensors with stiff mechanical structures. Our purpose is to achieve these levels of design using FEM aided by computer and we pretend to study several models of the structure array using the Conceptual Design Method, in an effort to optimize the design.
We present the Mexican Infrared-Optical New Technology Telescope Project (TIM). The design and construction of a 7.8 m telescope, which will operate at the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional in San Pedro Martir, B.C. (Mexico), are described. The site has been selected based on seeing and sky condition measurements taken for several years. The f/1.5 primary mirror consists of 19 hexagonal off-axis parabolic Zerodur segments. The telescope structure will be alt-az, lightweight, low cost, and high stiffness. It will be supported by hydrostatic bearings. The single secondary will complement a Ritchey-Chretien f/15 design, delivering to Cassegrain focus instrumentation. The telescope will be infrared optimized to allow observations ranging from 0.3 to 20 microns. The TIM mirror cell provides an independent and full active support system for each segment, in order to achieve both, phasing capability and very high quality imaging (0.25 arcsec).
We present the conceptual design of the primary mirror support system of the 7.8 m Mexican Infrared-Optical Telescope. The primary mirror consists of 19 hexagonal off- axis parabolic Zerodur segments, which are carried by a tubular, lightweight and high stiffness cell structure. Each segment is actively supported by 19 pneumatic actuators, that cover the whole back area and provide a uniform force distribution. The array of actuators will be able to correct for high order aberrations. Each of these actuators contains a hydraulic damping system to provide a stiff coupling to the tubular cell to sustain the wind buffeting. The tip/tilt and piston control of each segment will be done through three axial, nanometer resolution position defining actuators. The lateral positioning of each segment is performed through 3 independent electro-mechanical actuators. With the combination of the whole set of actuators and differential positioning sensors, the phasing or coherent superposition of images of the segments, will be more feasible. The whole system will be cost effective, since several subsystems have already been tested on our 2.1 m telescope.
Optical testing of the 2.1-m telescope in San Pedro Martir, Observatorio Astronomico Nacional de Mexico, by the methods of wavefront curvature sensing and bi-Ronchi analysis, has shown that the telescope suffered of large amounts of astigmatism. We identified these as due to improper primary mirror support and developed an active control system to correct for it. The number and position of the actuators were decided in accordance to the flexural modes that needed to be corrected, resulting in a system of 18 pressure controlled pneumatic actuators, with an outer loop that verifies the load at three hard points. A PID algorithm and matrix inversion are fundamental parts of this outer loop, that guarantees that the M1 mirror is tilted as a rigid body to maintain it properly aligned. The successful performance of the system to correct low order aberrations is reported.
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