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arXiv · 2609.11593

The MICADO first light imager for the ELT: the PSF Reconstruction Software

Andrea Grazian·Fernando Pedichini·Matteo Simioni·Jani Achren·Carmelo Arcidiacono·Luca Cortese·Ric Davies·Marco Gullieuszik·Johanna Hartke·Hanindyo Kuncarayakti·Roberto Piazzesi·Elisa Portaluri·Stefan Raffetseder·Piero Vaccari·Benedetta Vulcani·Roland Wagner·Anita Zanella
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Abstract

The MICADO instrument for the ESO ELT will provide Adaptive Optics (AO) diffraction-limited NIR imaging and spectroscopy. A critical component of MICADO is the Point Spread Function Reconstruction (PSF-R) Software, which is designed to perform a blind reconstruction of the PSF for all observations using AO telemetry data only, both with the Single Conjugate (SCAO) and Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) modes of MICADO. The SCAO PSF-R Pipeline is currently being completed, and validation with ERIS at VLT and SOUL+LUCI at LBT has demonstrated high accuracy, of percent-level on-axis and 5-20% off-axis. Initial scientific simulations confirm that the PSF-R software meets the necessary precision for high-quality analysis, securing its role for MICADO's first light and future ELT operations.

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Andrea Grazian, Fernando Pedichini, Matteo Simioni, Jani Achren, Carmelo Arcidiacono, Luca Cortese, Ric Davies, Marco Gullieuszik, Johanna Hartke, Hanindyo Kuncarayakti, Roberto Piazzesi, Elisa Portaluri, Stefan Raffetseder, Piero Vaccari, Benedetta Vulcani, Roland Wagner, Anita Zanella. 2026-09-10. The MICADO first light imager for the ELT: the PSF Reconstruction Software. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3102300

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