Preliminary requirements and possible technological solutions for the next generation of ground-based optical telescopes were laid down at ESO in 1998. Since then, a phase A study has been commissioned, the objective of which is to produce a conceptual design compatible, to the maximum possible extent, with proven technology, and establish realistic plans for detailed design, site selection, construction and operation for a 100-m class optical, diffractionlimited telescope. There was no doubt about how daunting such a challenge would be, but, somewhat surprisingly, it turns out to be firmly confined to adaptive optics concepts and technologies. The telescope itself appears to be feasible within the allocated budget and without reliance on exotic assumptions. Fabrication of key subsystems is fully within the reach of a properly engineered, industrialized process. A consolidated baseline is taking shape, and alternative system and subsystem solutions are being explored, strengthening the confidence that requirements could be met. Extensive development of wavefront measurement techniques enlarges the palette of solutions available for active wavefront control of a segmented, active telescope. At system level, ESO is developing enabling experiments to validate multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MAD for Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator) and telescope wavefront control (APE, for Active Phasing Experiment).
Progress in the conceptual design phase of ESO's OWL 100-m optical and near-infrared telescope is reported, with emphasis on the development of the science case. The Phase A opto-mechanical design is now basically completed, and provides a clean, symmetrical geometry of the pupil, with a near-circular outer edge. We also report about the latest outcome of industrial studies, introduce the essential definition of the wavefront control systems, and outline operational concepts and instruments priorities. Finally, we elaborate on the favorable cost factors associated to the telescope design, its compatibility with low industrial risks, and argue that progressive implementation allows for competitive timescales. In particular, we show that suitable fabrication and integration schemes should accommodate for a start of science operation at unequalled potential and within a time frame comparable to that of smaller designs, while at the same time maximizing R&D time for critical subsystems.
We report in this paper on the design and progress of the ESO Laser Guide Star Facility. The project will create a user facility embedded in UT4, to produce in the Earth's Mesosphere Laser Guide Stars, which extend the sky coverage of Adaptive Optics systems on the VLT UT4 telescope. Embedded into the project are provisions for multiple LGS to cope with second generation MCAO instruments.The LGSF is designed, assembled and installed by ESO in collaboration with the MPE and Max-Planck Institut für Astronomie (MPIA) in Heidelberg. MPE/MPIA are responsible for the laser system, PARSEC (Paranal Artificial Reference Source for Extended Coverage), and for the LIDAR operation mode of the LGSF. ESO is responsible for the laser room, the laser beam relay, the laser beam launch telescope with servos, and all the diagnostic and safety measures. The LGSF becomes part of, and it is governed by, the UT4 Telescope Control System. LGSF has to adopt the VLT standards and to be retrofitted on the existing UT4 telescope.The LGSF has to be upgradable to produce and control 5 Laser Guide Stars for MCAO, in 2006. The current LGSF design already embeds provisions for this upgrade.In the design of the LGSF we take advantage of the field experience matured with the MPE/MPIA ALFA system, in Calar Alto. All design areas benefit from the ALFA experience, and the LGSF becomes truly a second generation Laser Guide Star Facility. The project was kicked-off in September 2000, and has reached the Preliminary Design Review milestone on April 2 nd , 2001. At this time we are progressing toward the Final Design Review. We report on the current design solutions and tradeoffs. * send offprints requests to: dbonacci@eso.org Downloaded From: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 06/14/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms Proc. SPIE Vol. 4494 277 Downloaded From: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 06/14/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms
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