Robo-AO Replicable Robotic Laser Adaptive Optics and Science System for 1-3 m Telescopes

Christoph BaranecCaltech Optical Observatories

Laboratory development system

Robo-AO - Overview

New astronomy capabilityAble to allocate large amounts of time to diffraction-

limited astronomy, previously not possible

Rapidly develop and deploy low cost adaptive optics (AO) system for 1-3 meter telescopesUse low-risk technologiesEase of use, fully roboticIntegrated visible and near IR science instrumentsEmphasis on high observing efficiency

Robo-AO - AO Science

Extensive targeted searches (1000+ objects) Stellar, sub-stellar companion searchesLensed quasars (300-700 new over 9 months

time) Asteroid binarity

AstrometryDedicated telescope can optimize stabilityHigh Strehl in H improves precision

HE 1113-0641 gravitational lens, Blackburne et al. 2007. HST (left) seeing limited (right). Robo-AO will be able to resolve

these objects.

1”

Robo-AO Science

Rapid transient characterizationRespond to transients identified by

other systems (e.g. Palomar

Transient Factory, Catalina Sky

Survey, PanSTARRs)Rapid near-IR photometry

Time-domain astronomyLong term, high resolution monitoringSolar system objectsRepeating transientsOrbits

Swift J1955+2614, complex and poorly understood light curve, Kasliwal et al. 2008. Robo-AO could easily perform this observation within minutes of detection.

System Design

12x12 Boston Micromachines MEMS DM Physik Instrumente Tip/Tilt mirror Shack-Hartmann WFS (SciMeasure/E2V 39) IR and visible (600 nm to 2.3 μm, 2’ FoV)

science detectors (double as tip/tilt sensors) ‘Gaming’ CPU running Linux/C++ Rayleigh LGS Autonomous robotic operation

Deformable mirror

•MEMS Deformable mirror on a chip (Boston Micromachines)

•3.5 µm stroke, 140 actuators, 8 kHz, USB interface, very economical

•Bonus: FP Electronics drive tip/tilt mirror

Rayleigh LGS >10 W JDSU 301-HD Solid state tripled Nd:YAG Q-Switched (10 kHz) 650 m range gated at

10 km with Pockel’s Cell Approved for safe use by the FAA (no spotters) Unfortunately still have abide by USSTRATCOM PA

Robo-AO Error Budget

Assuming mV = 17 T/T guide star

Performance – H-Strehl

At Zenith• Greater than 40% Strehl with mV = 19 T/T in median

conditions• FWHM at H < 0.26” in even 75% worst seeing conditions

Optomechanical design

Nicholas Law

CAMERA:Low-cost Robotic LGS AO for Small

TelescopesOptomechanical design

Robinson laboratory development

system

Closed-loop in lab (2007)

Testbed running with closed loop at 120 Hz

Fully remote operation, including simulated queue scheduled observations

Robo-AO - Status

On-sky system development with partners from IUCAA (Pune, India) and support from the NSF: AST-0906060.

Rebuilt lab system in Cahill Center. Built new development CPU. WFS running at 3.5 kHz. Developed new Linux driver library for DM.

Near Future

Purchasing UV laser and optics later this month (testing summer 2010)

Reintegrating TTM and DM into lab system, demonstrate 1.2+ kHz operation by end of year

System Design Review in Spring 2010

Robo-AO (2011+)

Goal is to provide routine efficient diffraction-limited science (visible and NIR) with a dedicated 1-3 m telescope.

One month demonstration of Robo-AO, Spring 2011, with science to follow immediately.

Clone Robo-AO many times over, deploy on other telescopes around the world!

Robo-AO team Robo-AO instrument team: C. Baranec (Principal

Investigator), A. N. Ramaprakash (Co-Investigator, IUCAA), R. Riddle, S. Tendulkar, M. Burse (IUCAA), P. Chordia (IUCAA), H. Das (IUCAA), S. Punnadi (IUCAA), J. Fucik, J. Zolkower

Robo-AO science team: N. Law (Project Scientist, U. Toronto), A. N. Ramaprakash (IUCAA), C. Baranec, R. Dekany, E. Ofek, M. Kasliwal, S. Tendulkar, S. Kulkarni

CAMERA testbed team: M. Britton (now at tOSC), N. Law, V. Velur, D. Beeler (Pomona), L. Ratschbacher (U. Vienna), P. Choi (Pomona), B. Penprase (Pomona)