The FALCON concept: multi-object adaptive optics and atmospheric tomography for integral field spectroscopy – principles and performance on an 8-m telescope

Integral field spectrographs are major instruments with which to study the mechanisms involved in the formation and the evolution of early galaxies. When combined with multi-object spectroscopy, those spectrographs can behave as machines used to derive physical parameters of galaxies during their formation process. Up to now, there has been only one available spectrograph with multiple integral field units, i.e. FLAMES/GIRAFFE on the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT). However, current ground-based instruments suffer from a degradation of their spatial resolution due to atmospheric turbulence. In this article we describe the performance of FALCON, an original concept of a new-generation multi-object integral field spectrograph with adaptive optics for the ESO VLT. The goal of FALCON is to combine high angular resolution (0.25 arcsec) and high spectral resolution  ( R > 5000)  in the J and H bands over a wide field of view  (10 × 10 arcmin²)  in the VLT Nasmyth focal plane. However, instead of correcting the whole field, FALCON will use multi-object adaptive optics (MOAO) to perform the adaptive optics correction locally on each scientific target. This requires us then to use atmospheric tomography in order to use suitable natural guide stars for wavefront sensing. We will show that merging MOAO and atmospheric tomography allows us to determine the internal kinematics of distant galaxies up to z ≈ 2 with a sky coverage of 50 per cent, even for objects observed near the Galactic pole. The application of such a concept to extremely large telescopes seems therefore to be a very promising way to study galaxy evolution from z = 1 to redshifts as high as z = 7.     

European Solar Telescope: Progress status

In this paper, the present status of the development of the design of the European Solar Telescope is described. The telescope is devised to have the best possible angular resolution and polarimetric performance, maximizing the throughput of the whole system. To that aim, adaptive optics and multi‐conjugate adaptive optics are integrated in the optical path. The system will have the possibility to correct for the diurnal variation of the distance to the turbulence layers, by using several deformable mirrors, conjugated at different heights. The present optical design of the telescope distributes the optical elements along the optical path in such a way that the instrumental polarization induced by the telescope is minimized and independent of the solar elevation and azimuth. This property represents a large advantage for polarimetric measurements. The ensemble of instruments that are planned is also presented (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The GraF instrument for Imaging Spectroscopy with the Adaptive Optics

The GraF instrument using a Fabry-Perot interferometer cross-dispersed with a grating was one of the first integral-field and long-slit spectrographs built for and used with an adaptive optics system. We describe its concept, design, optimal observational procedures and the measured performances. The instrument was used in 1997–2001 at the ESO3.6 m telescope equipped with ADONIS adaptive optics and SHARPII+camera. The operating spectral range was 1.2–2.5 μm. We used the spectral resolution from 500 to 10 000 combined with the angular resolution of 0.1″–0.2″. The quality of GraF data is illustrated by the integral field spectroscopy of the complex0.9″ × 0.9″ central region of η Car in the1.7 μm spectral range at the limit of spectral and angular resolutions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Improvements on the optical differentiation wavefront sensor

We describe a novel concept for high-resolution wavefront sensing based on the optical differentiation wavefront sensor (OD). It keeps the advantages of high resolution, adjustable dynamic range, ability to work with polychromatic sources and, in addition, it achieves good performance in wavefront reconstruction when the field is perturbed by scintillation. Moreover, this new concept can be used as multi-object wavefront sensor in multiconjugate adaptive optics systems. It is able to provide high resolution and high sampling operation, which is of great interest for the projected extreme adaptive optics systems for large telescopes.     

Adaptive Optics on Large Telescopes

Observations withground based telescopes suffer from atmospheric turbulence.Independent of the telescope size the angular resolution inthe visible is equivalent to that of a telescope with adiameter of 10–20 cm. This effect is caused by the turbulentmixing of air with different temperatures in the atmosphere.Thus, the perfect plane wave from a star at infinity isaberrated before it enters the telescope. In the following,we will discuss the physical background of imaging throughturbulence, using Kolmogorov statistics, and the differenttechniques to sense and to correct the wave-front aberrationswith adaptive optics. The requirements for the control loop ofan adaptive optics system are discussed including formulas forthe limiting magnitude of the guide star as a function of thewave-front sensing method, of the quality of the wave-frontsensor camera, and of the degree of correction. Finally, ashort introduction to deformable mirror technology will begiven followed by the presentation of a new method to measureand to distinguish individual turbulent layers in order toincrease the isoplanatic angle.     

High resolution reconstruction of solar prominence images observed by the New Vacuum Solar Telescope

A high resolution image showing fine structures is crucial for understanding the nature of solar prominence. In this paper, high resolution imaging of solar prominence on the New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) is introduced, using speckle masking. Each step of the data reduction especially the image alignment is discussed. Accurate alignment of all frames and the non-isoplanatic calibration of each image are the keys for a successful reconstruction. Reconstructed high resolution images from NVST also indicate that under normal seeing condition, it is feasible to carry out high resolution observations of solar prominence by a ground-based solar telescope, even in the absence of adaptive optics.     

Design and development of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope

Led by the National Solar Observatory, plans have been made to design and to develop the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST). The ATST will be a 4‐m general‐purpose solar telescope equipped with adaptive optics and versatile post‐focus instrumentation. Its main aim will be to achieve an angular resolution of 0.03 arcsec (20 km on the solar surface). The project and the telescope design are briefly described.     

Proper Motions and Velocity Asymmetries in the RW Aur Jet

We present adaptive optics spectro-imaging observations of the RW Aur jet in optical forbidden lines, at an angular resolution of 0.4″. Comparison with HST data taken 2 yr later shows that proper motions in the blueshifted and redshifted lobes are in the same ratio as their radial velocities, a direct proof that the velocity asymmetry in this jet is real and not an emissivity effect. The inferred jet inclination to the line of sight is i = 46±3°. The inner knot spacing appears best explained by time variability with at least two modes: one irregular and asymmetric (possibly random) on timescales of ≤3–10 yr, and another more regular with ?20 yr period. We also report indirect evidence for correlated velocity and excitation gradients in the redshifted lobe, possibly related to the blue/red velocity and brightness asymmetry in this system.     

High-Resolution Near-Infrared Observations of NGC 1068

We present near-infrared observations of NGC 1068 obtained with the SHARP camera at the ESO 3.5 m telescope, and with SHARP II attached to the COME-ON+ adaptive optics system at the ESO 3.6 m telescope. From the SHARP observations we obtain a K band image of the stellar bar with 0.″4 resolution, and an upper limit to the size of the nuclear K band source of 0.″05 (3.5 pc). The adaptive optics observations are used to determine the position of the infrared nucleus with respect to the visible continuum. The centroid of the 5000 to 9000 Å continuum is displaced 0.″23 ± 0.″10 to the east and 0.″41 ± 0.″10 to the north of the K bank peak.     

Comments on the next generation of ground-based solar telescopes

The development of telescope capabilities tends to go in spurts. These are triggered by the availability of new techniques in optics, mechanics and/or instrumentation. So has nighttime telescope technology developed since the construction in the nineteen-forties of the 5-m Hale telescope, first by the introduction in the sixties of high efficiency electronic detectors, followed recently by the production of large 8- to 10-m mirrors and now by the implementation of adaptive optics. In solar astronomy, major steps were the introduction of the coronagraph by Lyot in the nineteen-thirties and the vacuum telescope concept by Dunn in the sixties. In the last thirty years, telescope developments in solar astronomy have relied primarily on improved instrumental capabilities. As in nighttime astronomy, these instruments and their detectors are reaching their limits set by the quantum nature of light and the telescope diffraction. Larger telescopes are needed to increase sensitivity and angular resolution of the observations. In this paper, I will review recent efforts to increase substantially the telescope capabilities themselves. I will emphasize the concept of a large all-wavelength, coronagraphic telescope (CLEAR) which is presently being developed.Dedicated to Cornelis de Jager     

Image Quality in High-resolution and High-cadence Solar Imaging

Broad-band imaging and even imaging with a moderate bandpass (about 1 nm) provides a photon-rich environment, where frame selection (lucky imaging) becomes a helpful tool in image restoration, allowing us to perform a cost-benefit analysis on how to design observing sequences for imaging with high spatial resolution in combination with real-time correction provided by an adaptive optics (AO) system. This study presents high-cadence (160 Hz) G-band and blue continuum image sequences obtained with the High-resolution Fast Imager (HiFI) at the 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope, where the speckle-masking technique is used to restore images with nearly diffraction-limited resolution. The HiFI employs two synchronized large-format and high-cadence sCMOS detectors. The median filter gradient similarity (MFGS) image-quality metric is applied, among others, to AO-corrected image sequences of a pore and a small sunspot observed on 2017 June 4 and 5. A small region of interest, which was selected for fast-imaging performance, covered these contrast-rich features and their neighborhood, which were part of Active Region NOAA 12661. Modifications of the MFGS algorithm uncover the field- and structure-dependency of this image-quality metric. However, MFGS still remains a good choice for determining image quality without a priori knowledge, which is an important characteristic when classifying the huge number of high-resolution images contained in data archives. In addition, this investigation demonstrates that a fast cadence and millisecond exposure times are still insufficient to reach the coherence time of daytime seeing. Nonetheless, the analysis shows that data acquisition rates exceeding 50 Hz are required to capture a substantial fraction of the best seeing moments, significantly boosting the performance of post-facto image restoration.     

Replicated Nickel Optics for the Hard-X-Ray Region

Replicated nickel optics has been used extensively in x-ray astronomy, most notably for the XMM/Newton mission. The combination of relative ease of fabrication and the inherent stability of full-shell optics, make them an attractive approach for medium-resolution, high-throughput applications. MSFC has been developing these optics for use in the hard-x-ray region. Efforts at improving their angular resolution, particularly for the very-thin-wall shells required to meet the weight budgets of future missions, are described together with the prospects for future significant improvements.     

Adaptive Optics Image Restoration Based on Frame Selection and Multi-frame Blind Deconvolution

Restricted by the observational condition and the hardware, adaptive optics can only make a partial correction of the optical images blurred by atmospheric turbulence. A postprocessing method based on frame selection and multi-frame blind deconvolution is proposed for the restoration of high-resolution adaptive optics images. By frame selection we mean we first make a selection of the degraded (blurred) images for participation in the iterative blind deconvolution calculation, with no need of any a priori knowledge, and with only a positivity constraint. This method has been applied to the restoration of some stellar images observed by the 61-element adaptive optics system installed on the Yunnan Observatory 1.2m telescope. The experimental results indicate that this method can effectively compensate for the residual errors of the adaptive optics system on the image, and the restored image can reach the diffraction-limited quality.     

Simco,a simulation software for CONICA,the coude nir camera for the very large telescope

CONICA is an acronym for COudé Near Infrared Camera. It is one of the four currently planned Infrared instruments for ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. This multimode instrument is to be installed at the Coudé-focus (of Unit Telescope no. 1), where adaptive optics and speckle interferometry will also be available. High angular resolution imaging (to the diffraction limit) will be possible in the 1–5 m range, as well as spectroscopy with low- and medium resolution and polarimetry by means of Wollaston prism and wiregrid analysers. Various softwares are developed for this instrument. One of them: the Simulation Software has a threefold aim: 1. provide the user with feedback information on his/her choices of observational parameters. This is be achieved by displaying the calculated performance and throughput of the combined Source-Atmosphere-Telescope-Camera-Detector system in various formats, such as images, tables, isophotical images ... for point as well as for extended sources (also annular, double, etc.); 2. verify if his expectations are realistic, before actually using CONICA itself. 3. give feedback on the design to the developers of the instrument.On leave from his original institute, now at ESTEC in the ISO-project     

Solar GLAO and TAO:performance comparisons

Multi-conjugate adaptive optics(MCAO),consisting of several deformable mirrors(DMs),can significantly increase the adaptive optics(AO)correction field of view.Current MCAO can be realized by either star-oriented or layer-oriented approaches.For solar AO,ground-layer adaptive optics(GLAO)can be viewed as an extreme case of layer-oriented MCAO in which the DM is conjugated to the ground,while solar tomography adaptive optics(TAO)that we proposed recently can be viewed as star-oriented MCAO with only one DM.Solar GLAO and TAO use the same hardware as conventional solar AO,and therefore it will be important to see which method can deliver better performance.In this article,we compare the performance of solar GLAO and TAO by using end-to-end numerical simulation software.Numerical simulations of TAO and GLAO with different numbers of guide stars are conducted.Our results show that TAO and GLAO produce the same performance if the DM is conjugated to the ground,but TAO can only generate better performance when the DM is conjugated to the best height.This result has important application in existing one-DM solar AO systems.     

A new tunable filter with a very narrow pass-band

A new tunable optical filter incorporated in a solar magnetograph consists of an interference filter followed by three automatically controlled Fabry-Pérot interferometers. It has a spectral resolving power of 10⁵, an angular resolution of 5″ arc and a field angle of 30′ arc for this spectral resolving power. By using auxiliary optics the angular resolution of the object may be improved at the expense of the angular field. Thus $$\frac{{angular field}}{{angular resolution}} = 6 are \min (are \sec )^{ - 1} $$ . It is operational over the range 400–650 nm and may be tuned through ± 0.2 nm about the selected transmission band.     

基于帧选择和多帧降质图像盲解卷积的自适应光学图像恢复

自适应光学系统受观测条件与自身条件的限制,通常只能对受大气湍流影响的降质图像进行部分校正.提出一种基于帧选择与多帧降质图像盲解卷积的事后处理方法进行自适应光学图像高分辨力恢复.该方法通过帧选择技术筛选出合适的多帧降质图像参与迭代盲解卷积运算,不需要除正性限制外的任何先验知识,并已应用于云南天文台1.2m望远镜61单元自适应光学系统所观测到的星体目标图像恢复中.实验结果表明:该方法可以有效补偿自适应光学系统校正残差对图像的影响,恢复出达到衍射极限的图像.     

Adaptive optics: a breakthrough in astronomy

Until the 1970s, atmospheric seeing was considered as an absolute limitation for angular resolution of ground-based optical telescopes, exactly at the time of the conception of the new generation of giant optical telescopes, as the VLT and the Keck. Emerging in the context of the cold war with many constraints due to the research being classified, but with the new possibilities of digital control, astronomical adaptive optics was shown to be feasible in 1989 and gradually convinced an initially skeptical astronomical community of its potential. Twenty years later, it is a mandatory ingredient for the planning of Extremely Large Telescopes on the surface of the Earth, and has allowed many discoveries concerning galactic and extragalactic objects. Some directions for new developments are discussed.     

Optical design of the new solar telescope GREGOR

This article describes the considerations which led to the current optical design of the new 1.5 m solar telescope GREGOR. The result is Gregorian design with two real foci in the optical train. The telescope includes a relay optic with a pupil image used by a high order adaptive optics system (AO). The optical design is described in detail and performance characteristics are given. Finally we show some verification results which prove that – without atmospheric effects – the completed telescope reaches a diffraction limited performance (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Advanced Technology Solar Telescope

High-resolution studies of the Sun’s magnetic fields are needed for a better understanding of the fundamental processes responsible for solar variability. The generation of magnetic fields through dynamo processes, the amplification of fields through the interaction with plasma flows, and the destruction of fields are poorly understood. There is incomplete insight into physical mechanisms responsible for chromospheric and coronal structure and heating, causes of variations in the radiative output of the Sun, and mechanisms that trigger flares and coronal mass ejections. Progress in answering these critical questions requires study of the interaction of the magnetic field and convection with a resolution sufficient to observe scale fundamental to these processes. The planned 4 m aperture ATST will be a unique scientific tool, with excellent angular resolution, a large wavelength range, and low scattered light. With its integrated adaptive optics, the ATST will achieve a spatial resolution nearly 10 times better than any existing solar telescope. The ATST design and development phase began in 2001 and it is now ready to begin construction in 2009.