Journal Article

Performance of the Canada‐France‐Hawaii TelescopeAdaptive Optics Bonnette

Thomas, J., Gigan, P., Stilburn, J., Fletcher, J. M., Rigaut, F., Rouan, D., Véran, J. P., Boyer, C., Crampton, David, Salmon, D., Arsenault, R., Lai, O., Jagourel, P.

1998

Overview

Extensive results from the commissioning phase of PUEO, the adaptive optics instrument adaptor for the Canada‐France‐Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), are presented and discussed. Analyses of more than 750 images recorded with a CCD and a near‐IR camera on 16 nights in wavelengths fromBtoHare used to derive the properties of the compensated wavefront and images in a variety of conditions. The performance characteristics of the system are analyzed and presented in several ways, in terms of delivered Strehl ratios, full width half‐maxima (FWHM), and quantities describing the improvements of both. A qualitative description is given of how the properties of the corrected images result from the structure function of the compensated phase. Under median seeing conditions, PUEO delivers essentially diffraction‐limited images atHandKand images with FWHM ∼ 0 \\documentclass{aastex} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{bm} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{pifont} \\usepackage{stmaryrd} \\usepackage{textcomp} \\usepackage{portland,xspace} \\usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \\usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \\newcommand\\cyr{ \\renewcommand\\rmdefault{wncyr} \\renewcommand\\sfdefault{wncyss} \\renewcommand\\encodingdefault{OT2} \\normalfont \\selectfont} \\DeclareTextFontCommand{\\textcyr}{\\cyr} \\pagestyle{empty} \\DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \\begin{document} \\landscape $\\farcs$\\end{document} 1 atJandI, and provides significant gains down toB, with guide stars as faint as \\documentclass{aastex} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{bm} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{pifont} \\usepackage{stmaryrd} \\usepackage{textcomp} \\usepackage{portland,xspace} \\usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \\usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \\newcommand\\cyr{ \\renewcommand\\rmdefault{wncyr} \\renewcommand\\sfdefault{wncyss} \\renewcommand\\encodingdefault{OT2} \\normalfont \\selectfont} \\DeclareTextFontCommand{\\textcyr}{\\cyr} \\pagestyle{empty} \\DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \\begin{document} \\landscape $R=14$ \\end{document} . During good conditions, substantial gains were realized with guide stars as faint as \\documentclass{aastex} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{bm} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{pifont} \\usepackage{stmaryrd} \\usepackage{textcomp} \\usepackage{portland,xspace} \\usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \\usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \\newcommand\\cyr{ \\renewcommand\\rmdefault{wncyr} \\renewcommand\\sfdefault{wncyss} \\renewcommand\\encodingdefault{OT2} \\normalfont \\selectfont} \\DeclareTextFontCommand{\\textcyr}{\\cyr} \\pagestyle{empty} \\DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \\begin{document} \\landscape $R=17$ \\end{document} . A simple user interface and software that automatically and continuously optimizes the mode gains during observations makes the operational efficiency extremely high. A few astronomical examples are briefly discussed.

• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
• Subject: Adaptive optics / Curvature / Deformable mirrors / Optical focus / Reflecting telescopes / Stars / Telescopes / Turbulence / Wavelengths