UK Programme for the European Extremely Large Telescope 13-15
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Included in the "UK Programme for the European Extremely large Telescope", Cunningham et al September 2010. (attached)
Planned Impact
Included in the "UK Programme for the European Extremely large Telescope - Pathways to Impact". (attached)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Simon Morris (Principal Investigator) | |
| Richard Myers (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Vidal F
(2014)
Analysis of on-sky MOAO performance of CANARY using natural guide stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Basden A
(2015)
Analysis of electron multiplying charge coupled device and scientific CMOS readout noise models for Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor accuracy
in Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems
BiTao T
(2015)
Study on the detecting ability of the adaptive astronomical telescopes
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Basden A
(2015)
Simulation and laboratory demonstration of measurement and mitigation of dome seeing
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Harris R
(2015)
Photonic spatial reformatting of stellar light for diffraction-limited spectroscopy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Basden A
(2015)
Investigation of POWER8 processors for astronomical adaptive optics real-time control
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Basden A
(2013)
Monte Carlo simulation of ELT-scale multi-object adaptive optics deformable mirror requirements and tolerances
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
MacLachlan D
(2017)
Efficient photonic reformatting of celestial light for diffraction-limited spectroscopy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Basden A
(2014)
Wide-field adaptive optics performance in cosmological deep fields for multi-object spectroscopy with the European Extremely Large Telescope
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Basden A
(2014)
A real-time simulation facility for astronomical adaptive optics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | The funding secured the UK leadership of the CANARY UK-France project, with Durham as overall PI. CANARY has achieved the following world firsts, which are fully consistent with the goals of this funding: Laser Multi-Object AO (MOAO) demonstrated on-sky - this is a technology required for the MOS (Multi-Object Spectrograph) on the forthcoming European Extremely Large Telescope. The technology will allow, for example, a survey of the first galaxies to form in the universe, exploring the mechanisms which give the universe its particular form. It overcomes the effects of atmospheric turbulence on ground-based telescopes and does so over a very wide field of view. Artificial stars, produced by powerful lasers, are used to sense the atmospheric turbulence above the telescope and and to correct its effects. Laser Tomographic AO (LTAO) demonstrated on-sky - this is an atmospheric correction technology required by the UK-led HARMONI first-light instrument on the forthcoming European Extremely Large Telescope. Full Linear Quadratic Gaussian Conreol demonstrated on-sky - optimally removes the effects of windshake on telescope images. AO feed of a photonic lantern spectrograph demonstrated on-sky optimal feeding of a new photonic technology spectrograph using adaptive optics Artificial Neural Net tomographic reconstructor demonstrated on-sky, - technology allowing adaptive optics turbulence correction to adapt automatically to changes in the atmospheric configuration CuReD and HWR wavefront reconstructors demonstrated on-sky - new high-speed computational methods for adaptive optics for exoplanet imaging. MOAO and LTAO are required for the ELT-MOS, ELT-IFU (HARMONI), METIS, and possibly HIRES. This work has secured our position in the MOS and HIRES projects, including the position of AO Systems Engineer and Real-time control lead for the MOS. The success of CANARY has secured EU funding (OPTICON) and ESO support for CANARY Phase D (Na LGS Spot Elongation) We note that MOAO technology is used in Keck's future NGAO system and LTAO is a workhorse mode of GMT. |
| Exploitation Route | We note that MOAO technology is used in Keck's future NGAO system and LTAO is a workhorse mode of GMT. |
| Sectors | Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/cfai/projects/canary/ |
| Description | Yes, the funding secured the UK leadership of the CANARY UK-France project, with Durham as overall PI. CANARY has achieved the following world firsts, which are fully consistent with the goals of this funding: Laser Multi-Object AO (MOAO) demonstrated on-sky Laser Tomographic AO (LTAO) demonstrated on-sky Full Linear Quadratic Gaussian Conreol demonstrated on-sky AO feed of a photonic lantern spectrograph demonstrated on-sky Artificial Neural Net tomographic reconstructor demonstrated on-sky, CuReD and HWR wavefront reconstructors demonstrated on-sky MOAO and LTAO are required for the ELT-MOS, ELT-IFU (HARMONI), METIS, and possibly HIRES. This work has secured our position in the MOS and HIRES projects, including the position of AO Systems Engineer and Real-time control lead for the MOS. The success of CANARY has secured EU funding (OPTICON) and ESO support for CANARY Phase D (Na LGS Spot Elongation) I note that MOAO technology is used in Keck's future NGAO system and LTAO is a workhorse mode of GMT. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | European Space Agency TRP |
| Amount | £283,554 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | TEC-MMO/2014/127 |
| Organisation | ESA - ESTEC |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Start | 03/2015 |
| End | 05/2018 |
| Description | CANARY |
| Organisation | Heriot-Watt University |
| Department | School of Engineering & Physical Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Overall leadership of the CANARY project. Approximately equal contribution with Obs de Paris to the design, build and test. Real-time controller. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Design of Diffractive optical elements for Laser Guide Star constellation projection |
| Impact | Proof that Natural Guide Star Multi-Object Adaptive Optics works on-sky |
| Start Year | 2007 |
| Description | CANARY |
| Organisation | Observatory of Paris |
| Department | Laboratory for Space Science and Astrophysical Instrumentation |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Overall leadership of the CANARY project. Approximately equal contribution with Obs de Paris to the design, build and test. Real-time controller. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Design of Diffractive optical elements for Laser Guide Star constellation projection |
| Impact | Proof that Natural Guide Star Multi-Object Adaptive Optics works on-sky |
| Start Year | 2007 |
| Description | CANARY |
| Organisation | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile |
| Department | Department of Industry and System Engineering |
| Country | Chile |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Overall leadership of the CANARY project. Approximately equal contribution with Obs de Paris to the design, build and test. Real-time controller. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Design of Diffractive optical elements for Laser Guide Star constellation projection |
| Impact | Proof that Natural Guide Star Multi-Object Adaptive Optics works on-sky |
| Start Year | 2007 |
| Description | CANARY |
| Organisation | UK Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Overall leadership of the CANARY project. Approximately equal contribution with Obs de Paris to the design, build and test. Real-time controller. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Design of Diffractive optical elements for Laser Guide Star constellation projection |
| Impact | Proof that Natural Guide Star Multi-Object Adaptive Optics works on-sky |
| Start Year | 2007 |
| Description | CANARY |
| Organisation | University of Oviedo |
| Department | Gijón Polytechnic School of Engineering |
| Country | Spain |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Overall leadership of the CANARY project. Approximately equal contribution with Obs de Paris to the design, build and test. Real-time controller. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Design of Diffractive optical elements for Laser Guide Star constellation projection |
| Impact | Proof that Natural Guide Star Multi-Object Adaptive Optics works on-sky |
| Start Year | 2007 |
| Description | E-ELT MOS |
| Organisation | Observatory of Paris |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Adaptive Optics for the E-ELT MOS |
| Collaborator Contribution | Full co-partners in the study with key roles divided |
| Impact | Phase A Design study for EAGLE Adaptive Optics |
| Start Year | 2010 |