Adaptive optics(AO)is essential for high-quality ground-based observations with large telescopes because it counters the impact of wavefront aberrations caused by atmospheric turbulence.The new vacuum solar telescope(...Adaptive optics(AO)is essential for high-quality ground-based observations with large telescopes because it counters the impact of wavefront aberrations caused by atmospheric turbulence.The new vacuum solar telescope(NVST)is one of the most important high-resolution solar observation instruments in the world.Three sets of solar adaptive optics systems have been developed and installed on this telescope:conventional adaptive optics,ground layer adaptive optics,and multi-conjugate adaptive optics.These have been in operation from 2018 to 2023.This paper details the development and application of solar adaptive optics on the NVST and discusses the newest instrumentation.展开更多
Multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) can considerably extend the cor- rected field of view with respect to classical adaptive optics, which will benefit solar observation in many aspects. In solar MCAO, the Sun st...Multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) can considerably extend the cor- rected field of view with respect to classical adaptive optics, which will benefit solar observation in many aspects. In solar MCAO, the Sun structure is utilized to provide multiple guide stars and a modal tomography approach is adopted to implement three- dimensional wavefront restorations. The principle of modal tomography is briefly re- viewed and a numerical simulation model is built with three equivalent turbulent lay- ers and a different number of guide stars. Our simulation results show that at least six guide stars are required for an accurate wavefront reconstruction in the case of three layers, and only three guide stars are needed in the two layer case. Finally, eigen- mode analysis results are given to reveal the singular modes that cannot be precisely retrieved in the tomography process.展开更多
Multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO), consisting of several deformable mirrors (DMs), can significantly increase the adaptive optics (AO) correction field of view. Current MCAO can be realized by either star-o...Multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO), consisting of several deformable mirrors (DMs), can significantly increase the adaptive optics (AO) correction field of view. Current MCAO can be realized by either star-oriented or layer-oriented approaches. For solar AO, ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO) can be viewed as an extreme case of layer-oriented MCAO in which the DM is conjugated to the ground, while solar tomography adaptive optics (TAO) that we proposed recently can be viewed as star-oriented MCAO with only one DM. Solar GLAO and TAO use the same hardware as conventional solar AO, and therefore it will be important to see which method can deliver better performance. In this article, we compare the performance of solar GLAO and TAO by using end-to-end numerical simulation software. Numerical simulations of TAO and GLAO with different numbers of guide stars are conducted. Our results show that TAO and GLAO produce the same performance if the DM is conjugated to the ground, but TAO can only generate better performance when the DM is conjugated to the best height. This result has important application in existing one-DM solar AO systems.展开更多
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11727805,12103057)the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(2021378).
文摘Adaptive optics(AO)is essential for high-quality ground-based observations with large telescopes because it counters the impact of wavefront aberrations caused by atmospheric turbulence.The new vacuum solar telescope(NVST)is one of the most important high-resolution solar observation instruments in the world.Three sets of solar adaptive optics systems have been developed and installed on this telescope:conventional adaptive optics,ground layer adaptive optics,and multi-conjugate adaptive optics.These have been in operation from 2018 to 2023.This paper details the development and application of solar adaptive optics on the NVST and discusses the newest instrumentation.
文摘Multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) can considerably extend the cor- rected field of view with respect to classical adaptive optics, which will benefit solar observation in many aspects. In solar MCAO, the Sun structure is utilized to provide multiple guide stars and a modal tomography approach is adopted to implement three- dimensional wavefront restorations. The principle of modal tomography is briefly re- viewed and a numerical simulation model is built with three equivalent turbulent lay- ers and a different number of guide stars. Our simulation results show that at least six guide stars are required for an accurate wavefront reconstruction in the case of three layers, and only three guide stars are needed in the two layer case. Finally, eigen- mode analysis results are given to reveal the singular modes that cannot be precisely retrieved in the tomography process.
基金the support of NSF under grant AST-1607921a grant from the Mt.Cuba Astronomical Foundation
文摘Multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO), consisting of several deformable mirrors (DMs), can significantly increase the adaptive optics (AO) correction field of view. Current MCAO can be realized by either star-oriented or layer-oriented approaches. For solar AO, ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO) can be viewed as an extreme case of layer-oriented MCAO in which the DM is conjugated to the ground, while solar tomography adaptive optics (TAO) that we proposed recently can be viewed as star-oriented MCAO with only one DM. Solar GLAO and TAO use the same hardware as conventional solar AO, and therefore it will be important to see which method can deliver better performance. In this article, we compare the performance of solar GLAO and TAO by using end-to-end numerical simulation software. Numerical simulations of TAO and GLAO with different numbers of guide stars are conducted. Our results show that TAO and GLAO produce the same performance if the DM is conjugated to the ground, but TAO can only generate better performance when the DM is conjugated to the best height. This result has important application in existing one-DM solar AO systems.