arXiv subjects

Marc Dubbeldam

Publications and source records attributed to Marc Dubbeldam.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

HARMONI at ELT: Reoptimization of the NGSS natural guide star sensors system for MCAO compatibility

HARMONI is the first-light, adaptive optics assisted, near-IR integral field spectrograph for the ELT. It covers a spectral range from below 800nm to 2400nm with resolving powers from 3000 to 7000 and spatial sampling of 25mas and 6mas. It can operate in three adaptive optics (AO) modes: single conjugate AO (SCAO), high-contrast AO (HCAO), and multi-conjugate AO (MCAO). The project is resuming its final design phase after a rescope design phase that has lasted two years. This paper describes the impact of the rescope on the natural guide star sensors (NGSS) system, imposing wide-ranging changes in particular to the low-order wavefront sensors (LOWFS) previously optimized for LTAO operation as well as on the external support and enclosure (ESE) whose external interfaces have changed. The high-contrast module (HCM) is also deeply affected due to the modified plate scale of the instrument, and the single-conjugate AO sensor (SCAOS) benefits from a reduced patrol field requirement. Description of the changes will be given together with the associated system analysis involving requirements flow-down, revisited functional analysis, and updated product breakdown structure. Elements of the new system management structure and work breakdown will also be included.

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arXiv2022

Concept validation of a high dynamic range point-diffraction interferometer for wavefront sensing in adaptive optics

The direct detection and imaging of exoplanets requires the use of high-contrast adaptive optics (AO). In these systems quasi-static aberrations need to be highly corrected and calibrated. In order to achieve this, the pupil-modulated point-diffraction interferometer (m-PDI), was presented in an earlier paper. This present paper focuses on m-PDI concept validation through three experiments. First, the instrument's accuracy and dynamic range are characterised by measuring the spatial transfer function at all spatial frequencies and at different amplitudes. Then, using visible monochromatic light, an adaptive optics control loop is closed on the system's systematic bias to test for precision and completeness. In a central section of the pupil with 72% of the total radius the residual error is 7.7nm-rms. Finally, the control loop is run using polychromatic light with a spectral FWHM of 77nm around the R-band. The control loop shows no drop in performance with respect to the monochromatic case, reaching a final Strehl ratio larger than 0.7.

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arXiv2020

MOSAIC: the high-multiplex and multi-IFU spectrograph for the ELT

MOSAIC is the planned multi-object spectrograph for the 39m Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). Conceived as a multi-purpose instrument, it offers both high multiplex and multi-IFU capabilities at a range of intermediate to high spectral resolving powers in the visible and the near-infrared. MOSAIC will enable unique spectroscopic surveys of the faintest sources, from the oldest stars in the Galaxy and beyond to the first populations of galaxies that completed the reionisation of the Universe--while simultaneously opening up a wide discovery space. In this contribution we present the status of the instrument ahead of Phase B, showcasing the key science cases as well as introducing the updated set of top level requirements and the adopted architecture. The high readiness level will allow MOSAIC to soon enter the construction phase, with the goal to provide the ELT community with a world-class MOS capability as soon as possible after the telescope first light.

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arXiv2018

First light with HiPERCAM on the GTC

HiPERCAM is a quintuple-beam imager that saw first light on the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in October 2017 and on the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) in February 2018. The instrument uses re-imaging optics and 4 dichroic beamsplitters to record ugriz (300-1000nm) images simultaneously on its five CCD cameras. The detectors in HiPERCAM are frame-transfer devices cooled thermo-electrically to -90degC, thereby allowing both long-exposure, deep imaging of faint targets, as well as high-speed (over 1000 windowed frames per second) imaging of rapidly varying targets. In this paper, we report on the as-built design of HiPERCAM, its first-light performance on the GTC, and some of the planned future enhancements.

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arXiv2018

Opto-mechanical designs for the HARMONI Adaptive Optics systems

HARMONI is a visible and near-infrared integral field spectrograph equipped with two complementary adaptive optics systems, fully integrated within the instrument. A Single Conjugate AO (SCAO) system offers high performance for a limited sky coverage and a Laser Tomographic AO (LTAO) system provides AO correction with a very high sky-coverage. While the deformable mirror performing real-time correction of the atmospheric disturbances is located within the telescope itself, the instrument contains a suite of state-of-the-art and innovative wavefront sensor systems. Laser guide star sensors (LGSS) are located at the entrance of the instrument and fed by a dichroic beam splitter, while the various natural guide star sensors for LTAO and SCAO are located close to the science focal plane. We present opto-mechanical architecture and design at PDR level for these wavefront sensor systems.

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arXiv2012

The EAGLE instrument for the E-ELT: developments since delivery of Phase A

The EAGLE instrument is a Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO) fed, multiple Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS), working in the Near Infra-Red (NIR), on the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). A Phase A design study was delivered to the European Southern Observatory (ESO) leading to a successful review in October 2009. Since that time there have been a number of developments, which we summarize here. Some of these developments are also described in more detail in other submissions at this meeting. The science case for the instrument, while broad, highlighted in particular: understanding the stellar populations of galaxies in the nearby universe, the observation of the evolution of galaxies during the period of rapid stellar build-up between redshifts of 2-5, and the search for 'first light' in the universe at redshifts beyond 7. In the last 2 years substantial progress has been made in these areas, and we have updated our science case to show that EAGLE is still an essential facility for the E-ELT. This in turn allowed us to revisit the science requirements for the instrument, confirming most of the original decisions, but with one modification. The original location considered for the instrument (a gravity invariant focal station) is no longer in the E-ELT Construction Proposal, and so we have performed some preliminary analyses to show that the instrument can be simply adapted to work at the E-ELT Nasmyth platform. Since the delivery of the Phase A documentation, MOAO has been demonstrated on-sky by the CANARY experiment at the William Herschel Telescope.

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