The New Ground‐Based Optical Telescopes

MAR 01, 1991

The next round of advances in ground‐based optical and infrared astronomy can only be made with larger telescopes or arrays of telescopes. New mirror designs make possible telescopes much larger than any in existence.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881281

Buddy Martin

John M. Hill

Roger Angel

We are in a period of rapid improvement in the capability of telescopes. Great strides are being taken to improve angular resolution, to increase sensitivity at all wavelengths and to make the most efficient use of wide‐field images. The technical challenges involved in such development are great, for not only do we need mirror surfaces much larger than what we have used before, but we require higher image quality. It has recently become clear that the best mountaintop observatory sites occasionally deliver images as sharp as 0.3 arcsecond, an image quality that many existing telescopes cannot maintain.

References

1. D. Enard, in Advanced Technology Optical Telescopes IV, Proc. SPIE 1236, L. D. Barr, ed., SPIE, Bellingham, Wash. (1990), p. 63.
2. P. A. Strittmatter, ibid., p. 71.
3. J. E. Nelson, T. S. Mast, ibid., p. 47.
4. A. Dressler, ibid., p. 42.
5. P. S. Osmer, ibid., p. 18.
6. K. Kodaira, ibid., p. 56.
7. F. H. Chaffee, D. R. Blanco, C. B. Foltz, C. C. Janes, H. N. Lester, A. D. Poyner, J. T. Williams, S. C. Criswell, D. G. Fabricant, G. D. Schmidt, ibid., p. 507
8. V. I. Tatarski, Wave Propagation in a Turbulent Medium, McGraw‐Hill, New York (1961).
9. J. M. Beckers, F. Merkle, in New Technologies for Astronomy, Proc. SPIE 1130, J. P. Swings, ed., SPIE, Bellingham, Wash. (1989), p. 10.
10. G. Rousset, J. C. Fontanella, P. Kern, P. Gigan, F. Rigaut, P. Léna, C. Boyer, P. Jagourel, J. P. Gaffard, F. Merkle, Astron. and Astrophys., in press.
11. R. A. Jones, Appl. Opt. 17, 1889 (1978).https://doi.org/APOPAI
12. K. Beckstette, E. Heynacher, in ESO Conference on Very Large Telescopes and Their Instrumentation, M.‐H. Ulrich, ed., ESO, Garching, Germany (1988), p. 341.
13. S. R. Wilson, D. W. Reicher, J. R. McNeil, in Advances in Fabrication and Metrology for Optics and Large Optics, Proc. SPIE 966, J. B. Arnold, R. E. Parks, eds., SPIE, Bellingham, Wash. (1988), p. 74.
L. N. Allen, R. E. Keim, Current Developments in Optical Engineering and Commercial Optics, Proc. SPIE 1168, R. E. Fischer, H. M. Polikove, W. J. Smith, eds., SPIE, Bellingham, Wash. (1990), p. 33.
14. J. Lubliner, J. E. Nelson, Appl. Opt. 19, 2341 (1980).https://doi.org/APOPAI
15. F. B. Ray, V. Krishnamachari, Opt. Eng. 27, 769 (1988).https://doi.org/OPEGAR
16. K. J. Fricke, H. Nicklas, in ESO Conference on Very Large Telescopes and Their Instrumentation, op. cit., p. 59.
17. J. R. P. Angel, W. B. Davison, J. M. Hill, E. J. Mannery, H. M. Martin, in Advanced Technology Optical Telescopes IV, op. cit., p. 636.
18. H. M. Martin, D. S. Anderson, J. R. P. Angel, R. H. Nagel, S. C. West, R. S. Young, in Advanced Technology Optical Telescopes IV, op. cit., p. 682.
19. R. Angel, Q. J. R. Astron. Soc. 31, 141 (1990).https://doi.org/QJRAAK

More about the Authors

Buddy Martin. University of Arizona's Steward Observatory.

John M. Hill. University of Arizona's Steward Observatory.

Roger Angel. University of Arizona's Steward Observatory.