Near infra-red astronomy with adaptive optics and laser guide stars at the Keck Observatory

Conference · Thu Aug 03 00:00:00 EDT 1995

OSTI ID:132762

Max, C E; Gavel, D T; Olivier, S S

A laser guide star adaptive optics system is being built for the W. M. Keck Observatory`s 10-meter Keck II telescope. Two new near infra-red instruments will be used with this system: a high-resolution camera (NIRC 2) and an echelle spectrometer (NIRSPEC). The authors describe the expected capabilities of these instruments for high-resolution astronomy, using adaptive optics with either a natural star or a sodium-layer laser guide star as a reference. They compare the expected performance of these planned Keck adaptive optics instruments with that predicted for the NICMOS near infra-red camera, which is scheduled to be installed on the Hubble Space Telescope in 1997.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); California Association for Research in Astronomy, Kamuela, HI (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 132762
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JC-121412; CONF-9507193-1; ON: DE96002141; TRN: AHC29529%%125
• Resource Relation: Conference: SPIE conference on adaptive optical system and applications, San Diego, CA (United States), 11-14 Jul 1995; Other Information: PBD: 3 Aug 1995
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
ASTRONOMY
INFRARED SPECTROMETERS
CAMERAS
PERFORMANCE
TELESCOPES
OPTICAL SYSTEMS
NEAR INFRARED RADIATION
CALIBRATION STANDARDS