Design and performance of a laser guide star system for the Keck II telescope

Friedman, Herbert W.; Cooke, Jeffrey; Danforth, Pamela M.; Erbert, G.; Feldman, Mark; Gavel, Donald T.; Jenkins, S.; Jones, Holger E.; Kanz, V. Keith; Kuklo, Thomas C.; Newman, Michael; Pierce, Edward L.; Presta, Robert W.; Salmon, J. Thaddeus; Thompson, Gary R.; Wong, Jen Nan

doi:10.1117/12.321681

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Note that our LGS AO acquisition efficiency has allowed us to acquire and observe more than 20 targets per night during brown dwarf survey-type observing campaign. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] • LGS AO optimization: laser return and observing conditions may vary, requiring an adjustment of the WFS speed, fine-tuning of STRAP or the LBWFS. This may account for ~ 2 min for every hour spent on an object.…”

Section: Science Instruments / Ao and Telescope Overheadsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The typical overhead associated with the acquisition sequence is 5 min or less for stars brighter than R=16-mag, ~5 -10 min for star brighter than R=17.5-mag and up to 10 -12 min for stars as faint as R=19-mag. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] • The observer may request a switch to NGS AO mode and observe a photometric or astrometric standard at any time during the night. Switching between NGS AO and LGS AO takes about one minute and does not add any overhead to the acquisition sequence, as this is done during telescope slew.…”

Section: Lgs Ao Observing Sequence For a Targetmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Keck II LGS was fabricated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and was delivered to Keck Observatory in 2000, further engineered by both LLNL and Keck Observatory and then integrated with the telescope in 2001 [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. A laser room on the Keck II dome floor houses 6 Nd-YAG lasers and a dye master oscillator (DMO).…”

Section: The Keck Laser Guide Starmentioning

confidence: 99%

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LGS AO operations at the W.M. Keck Observatory

et al. 2006

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Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics (LGS AO) has been offered to Keck II visiting astronomers since November 2004. From the few nights of shared-risk science offered at that time, the LGS AO operation effort has grown to supporting over fifty nights of LGS AO per semester. In this paper we describe the new technology required to support LGS AO, give an overview of the operational model, report observing efficiency and discuss the support load required to operate LGS AO. We conclude the paper by sharing lessons learned and the challenges yet to be faced.

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Section: Science Instruments / Ao and Telescope Overheadsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lgs Ao Observing Sequence For a Targetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Keck Laser Guide Starmentioning

confidence: 99%

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LGS AO operations at the W.M. Keck Observatory

et al. 2006

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“…The Keck II LGS AO system (Wizinowich et al [1]) has been in operation since 2004 using a dye laser developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Friedman et al [2]). This first generation dye laser (DL) and its side launch propagation system (SLS) have been responsible for an estimated 14,000 hours of science operations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Keck II laser guide star AO system and performance with the TOPTICA/MPBC laser

et al. 2016

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The Keck II Laser Guide Star (LGS) Adaptive Optics (AO) System was upgraded from a dye laser to a TOPTICA/MPBC Raman-Fibre Amplification (RFA) laser in December 2015. The W. M. Keck Observatory (WMKO) has been operating its AO system with a LGS for science since 2004 using a first generation 15 W dye laser. Using the latest diode pump laser technology, Raman amplification, and a well-tuned second harmonic generator (SHG), this Next Generation Laser (NGL) is able to produce a highly stable 589 nm laser beam with the required power, wavelength and mode quality. The beam's linear polarization and continuous wave format along with optical back pumping are designed to improve the sodium atom coupling efficiency over previously operated sodium-wavelength lasers. The efficiency and operability of the new laser has also been improved by reducing its required input power and cooling, size, and the manpower to operate and maintain it.The new laser has been implemented on the telescope's elevation ring with its electronics installed on a new Nasmyth sub-platform, with the capacity to support up to three laser systems for future upgrades. The laser is projected from behind the telescope's secondary mirror using the recently implemented center launch system (CLS) to reduce LGS spot size. We will present the new laser system and its performance with respect to power, stability, wavelength, spot size, optical repumping, polarization, efficiency, and its return with respect to pointing alignment to the magnetic field. Preliminary LGSAO performance is presented with the system returning to science operations. We will also provide an update on current and future upgrades at the WMKO.

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Laser Technologies for Laser Guided Adaptive Optics

Pennington

2006

Optics in Astrophysics

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Design and performance of a laser guide star system for the Keck II telescope

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

LGS AO operations at the W.M. Keck Observatory

LGS AO operations at the W.M. Keck Observatory

Keck II laser guide star AO system and performance with the TOPTICA/MPBC laser

Laser Technologies for Laser Guided Adaptive Optics

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