Active Systems In Long Baseline Interferometers

M. Shao

doi:10.1117/12.960827

20 September 1989 Active Systems In Long Baseline Interferometers

M. Shao

Proceedings Volume 1114, Active Telescope Systems; (1989) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.960827
Event: SPIE 1989 Technical Symposium on Aerospace Sensing, 1989, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

Long baseline stellar interferometers are very large optical systems that have extremely tight mechanical tolerances. In the Mark III interferometer, there were two major active systems that maintained the alignment and optical path control needed to make astronomical measurements. One system, called the star tracker system, kept the two interfering wavefronts parallel. The other system, the fringe tracker/delay line kept the optical paths equal in the two arms of the interferometer. This paper reviews the operation of the Mark III active systems and introduces systems that will be built into the next generation six element imaging array being designed. The key difference between the two systems is that with a two element interferometer, light from the star must be split for use in the star tracker and fringe tracker while in interferometers with more than two elements, it is possible to use the same photons to run both the star tracker and fringe tracker.

Citation Download Citation

M. Shao "Active Systems In Long Baseline Interferometers", Proc. SPIE 1114, Active Telescope Systems, (20 September 1989); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.960827

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KEYWORDS

Interferometers

Stars

Sensors

Beam splitters

Optical correlators

Photons

Telescopes

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