The 550-au Mission: a critical discussion

We have studied the science rationale, goals and requirements for a mission aimed at using the gravitational lensing from the Sun as a way of achieving high angular resolution and high signal amplification. We find that such a mission concept is compromised by several practical problems. Most severe are the effects due to the plasma in the solar atmosphere which cause refraction and scattering of the propagating rays. These effects either limit the frequencies that can be observed to those above ∼1 THz, or they move the optical point outwards beyond the vacuum value of ≥550 au. (Thus for observing frequency of 300 GHz the optical point is moved outwards to ∼ 680 au.) Density fluctuations in the inner solar atmosphere will further cause random pathlength differences for different rays. The corrections for the radiation from the Sun itself will also be a major challenge at any wavelength used, but could be mitigated with coronographic techniques. Given reasonable constraints on the spacecraft (particularly in terms of size and propulsion), source selection as well as severe navigational constraints further add to the difficulties for a potential mission. Nevertheless, unbiased surveys of small-scale structure on the sky at short wavelengths might be the most promising application of such a mission.     

The problem of the sighting line stabilization for axial meridian circles

The paper deals with the method based on treating the axial meridian circle and a long-focus light mark in the prime vertical as a single virtual instrument that has properties of meridian circle. A horizontal axis, a sighting line, and a micrometer cross-wire of the instrument are created by optical means. The key function here is performed by the light mark that ensures a reference direction used for formation of instrumental principal planes and directions. Stability of instrumental azimuth, inclination, and collimation is expected to be about ±0.″01. Besides, an accuracy of observations is not affected by any temperature and weight deformations of telescope mechanics. Owing to the last circumstance, the design is cheap and the telescope aperture may be increased significantly, to about 1m. An estimate of accuracy of observations depends on the adopted model of image motion, and for sites with excellent seeing and bright stars is ±0.″03 to ±0.″05 (rms).     

Design of 2-M to 6-M Liquid Mirror Containers

A new design is proposed for large (up to 6-m) liquid mirror containers. The design uses Kevlar, foam and aluminum, as in previous designs, but with a different configuration that makes the container lighter, stronger and more rigid. The results of finite element analysis are presented, consisting in the deformations due to temperature changes and to weight, and in the security factor for each material when maximum constraints are applied. Tilt rigidity is also analyzed. They show that the composite material construction technique gives a good performance up to 6 m diameters. The figures and tables contained in this paper can be used as recipes to build containers having diameters between 2 and 6 m. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Three types of 2-degree field compensating atmospheric dispersion correctors for prime focus

Three types of prime focus correctors for Chinese 2.16m telescope are introduced in this paper. Each corrector has a 2 degree field and can be used to compensate the atmospheric dispersion of 6″. All the three correctors have excellent image quality and the angles between the principal rays and the optical axes are quite small. There is no special technological difficulty in their fabrication. These designs can not only be used in the 2.16m telescope but also be applied to other large telescopes.     

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)     

Optimal Baffle Design in a Cassegrain Telescope

An exact analytical procedure is described for the optimum design of baffles for any Cassegrain telescope with conicoid type mirrors. Here, `optimum' means the least obstruction coefficient given perfect blocking of direct light by baffles. The corresponding algorithm is based on the ray-tracing formulas in a two-mirror telescope with arbitrary position of the aperture stop. The optimal configuration of baffles is unique. The dependence of the obstruction coefficient upon the telescope characteristics is studied. The optical system can be designed in such a way that the obstruction is equal to a predefined value. As examples, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Ritchey–Chretien system with the obstruction coefficient 0.25 are considered. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the design of the PEPSI spectropolarimeter for the LBT

We present the design concept of the spectropolarimeter for the high‐resolution echelle spectrograph PEPSI tobe installed at the 2 × 8.4 m Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona. We discuss the optical key elements, the principles of operations of the instrument and its instrumental polarization effects (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A synoptic program for large solar telescopes: Cyclic variation of turbulent magnetic fields

Upcoming large solar telescopes will offer the possibility of unprecedented high resolution observations. However, during periods of non‐ideal seeing such measurements are impossible and alternative programs should be considered to best use the available observing time. We present a synoptic program, currently carried out at the Istituto Ricerche Solari Locarno (IRSOL), to monitor turbulent magnetic fields employing the differential Hanle effect in atomic and molecular lines. This program can be easily adapted for the use at large telescopes exploring new science goals, nowadays impossible to achieve with smaller telescopes. The current, interesting scientific results prove that such programs are worthwhile to be continued and expanded in the future. We calculate the approximately achievable spatial resolution at a large telescope like ATST for polarimetric measurements with a noise level below 5 × 10^‐5 and a temporal resolution which is sufficient to explore variations on the granular scale. We show that it would be important to optimize the system for maximal photon throughput and to install a high‐speed camera system to be able to study turbulent magnetic fields with unprecedented accuracy (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)