Inexpensive mount for a large millimeter-wavelength telescope
- Creators
- Padin, S.
Abstract
A telescope mount with a single-point force support at the center of gravity of the primary mirror is proposed in order to eliminate much of the structure and cost of a large, millimeter-wavelength telescope. The single-point support gives repeatable thermal and gravitational deformation, so the surface of the primary can be controlled based on lookup tables for elevation and temperature. The new design is most appropriate for a survey telescope because locating the support above the vertex of the primary limits the range of motion of the mount to about 1 rad. A 30 m diameter, λ=850 μm telescope with the proposed mount is a factor of 4 lighter than a design with a conventional elevation-over-azimuth mount, and roughly half the cost.
Additional Information
© 2014 Optical Society of America. Received 3 April 2014; revised 27 May 2014; accepted 30 May 2014; posted 2 June 2014 (Doc. ID 209561); published 4 July 2014. This work was supported by the John B. and Nelly Kilroy Foundation.Attached Files
Published - ao-53-20-4431.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 48657
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20140818-114906923
- John B. and Nelly Kilroy Foundation
- Created
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2014-08-19Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field