The optical system of an adaptive 25-m telescope with a composite primary mirror composed of spherical segments

摘要

This paper presents the results of a calculation of the four-mirror two-stage optical system of a large optical telescope with a composite primary mirror (CPM), whose aspheric reflecting surface is approximated by hexagonal segments of spherical shape. Our analysis of the image quality showed that, when a definite size is chosen for the elements of the CPM, the proposed approximation makes it possible in principle to achieve an equivalent angular resolution of the optical system of the telescope better than 0.1". Elements of the CPM about 1 m across can be used for the 25-m telescope. It is expedient to put such a technical solution into practice both in the processing aspect and from the viewpoint of applying adaptive control of the shape of the reflective surface of the CPM. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.