The Hercules Mount: shouldering the weight of the Argus Array Technology Demonstrator

Ramses Gonzalez; Hank Corbett; Nathan Galliher; Alan Vasquez Soto; Lawrence Machia; Glenn Walters; Nicholas M. Law

doi:10.1117/12.2642957

29 August 2022 The Hercules Mount: shouldering the weight of the Argus Array Technology Demonstrator

Ramses Gonzalez, Hank Corbett, Nathan Galliher, Alan Vasquez Soto, Lawrence Machia, Glenn Walters, Nicholas M. Law

Proceedings Volume 12182, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IX; 121823W (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2642957
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Conference Poster

Abstract

As technological improvements continue to lower manufacturing costs, astrographic telescopes and cameras are becoming cheaper and more accessible to a wider community. The Argus Optical Array (AOA) capitalizes on these advances to create an all-sky, high-cadence telescope array with arcsecond-resolution and a cost in the $20M range. The completed array will have a 5-m class collecting area consisting of over 900 individual telescopes observing the entire Northern sky simultaneously at a 1-minute cadence (and capable of observing at second-timescales). The Argus Array Technology Demonstrator (A2TD) enables the investigation of the performance of telescopes, cameras, climate control, precision tracking and pointing systems for inclusion in the completed AOA. It consists of nine 8-inch telescopes under a hemispherical enclosure mounted onto the Hercules Mount, a semi-fixed, equatorial mount. The mount adjusts its polar axis alignment via two high-precision linear actuators while supporting a load of over 180 kg including counterweights. The dome is decoupled from the platform containing the telescopes to minimize the effect of windshake during observations. Sidereal tracking is performed by two linear actuators which connect to the outer dome and the telescope platform separately and track synchronously at arcsecond precision. The Hercules mount was constructed from a combination of low-cost commodity materials, with only three key components requiring precision CNC machining. Systems tested on the Hercules Mount will scale or transfer directly to the next instrument in the Argus series of prototypes: Argus Pathfinder. Here we present on-sky results of the Hercules Mount and our plans for the next generation of Argus prototypes.

Citation Download Citation

Ramses Gonzalez, Hank Corbett, Nathan Galliher, Alan Vasquez Soto, Lawrence Machia, Glenn Walters, and Nicholas M. Law "The Hercules Mount: shouldering the weight of the Argus Array Technology Demonstrator", Proc. SPIE 12182, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes IX, 121823W (29 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2642957

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