Status of the PALM-3000 high-order adaptive optics system

Abstract

The PALM-3000 upgrade to the Palomar Adaptive Optics system on the 5.1 meter Hale telescope will deliver extreme adaptive optics correction in near-infrared wavelengths and diffraction-limited images in visible wavelengths. PALM-3000 will use a 3388-actuator tweeter and a 241-actuator woofer deformable mirror, a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor with selectable pupil sampling, and an innovative wavefront control computer based on a cluster of 17 graphics processing units to correct wavefront aberrations at scales as fine as 8.1 cm at the telescope pupil using natural guide stars. The system is currently undergoing integration and testing, with deployment at Palomar Observatory planned in early 2011. We present the detailed design of key aspects of the adaptive optics system, and the current status of the deformable mirror characterization, wavefront sensor performance, and testbed activities.

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