• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.403-409
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• 2014

For ground-based telescope application, the performance assessment of tip-tilt actuator is important because the optical quality of telescope depends upon the windshake compensation ability of the fast steering secondary mirror. But it is difficult to measure the performance characteristics of the actuators due to the large size mirror and test facilities including the vacuum support and structural frame. In this paper, the full-scale tip-tilt test bed for the large size secondary mirror with diameter of 1m is built and the several tests are performed including the range, resolution and frequency response function. From the measurement results, it is shown that the tip-tilt actuator can successfully compensate the windshake with frequency of maximum 12 Hz and be a candidate for the Giant Magellan Telescope.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.343-348
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• 2012

This paper described an off-axis five-mirror-anastigmatic telescope. It is composed of three aspheric surfaces and one spherical surface while the third mirror and fifth mirror have the same parameters at the same place. This configuration is useful for having wide field of view. The strip full field of view for the near infrared telescope is $20^{\circ}{\times}0.2^{\circ}$. The entrance pupil is located in front of the first mirror. There is an intermediate image between the second mirror and the third mirror. The entrance pupil diameter is 100 mm and the effective focal length is 250 mm. The spectral range is $0.85-1.75{\mu}m$. The pixel pitch is $15{\mu}m$. The image quality is near the diffraction limit. Some methods were used to restrain the stray light such as a field stop near the intermediate image, the baffle, the narrow-band pass filter and a stop in front of the focal plane.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.53.3-53.3
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• 2021

Adaptive Optics (AO) was first studied in the field of astronomy, and its applications have been extended to the field of laser, microscopy, bio, medical, and free space laser communication. AO modelling and simulation are required throughout the system development process. It is necessary not only for proper design but also for performance verification after the final system is built. In KASI, we are trying to develop the AO Python Package for AO modelling and simulation. It includes modelling classes of atmosphere, telescope, Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor, deformable mirror, which are the components for an AO system. It also includes the ability to simulate the entire AO system over time. It is being developed in the Super Eye Bridge project to develop a segmented mirror, an adaptive optics, and an emersion grating spectrograph, which are future telescope technologies. And it is planned to be used as a performance analysis system for several telescope projects in Korea.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.153-160
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• 2010

We modified the optical system of 500 mm wide-field telescope of which point spread function showed an irregularity. The telescope has been operated for Near Earth Space Survey (NESS) located at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in Australia, and the optical system was brought back to Korea in January 2008. After performing a numerical simulation with the tested value of surface figure error of the primary mirror using optical design program, we found that the surface figure error of the mirror should be fabricated less than root mean square (RMS) $\lambda$/10 in order to obtain a stellar full width at half maximum (FWHM) below $28\;{\mu}m$. However, we started to figure the mirror for the target value of RMS $\lambda$/20, because system surface figure error would be increased by the error induced by the optical axis adjustment, mirror cell installation, and others. The radius of curvature of the primary mirror was 1,946 mm after the correction. Its measured surface figure error was less than RMS $\lambda$/20 on the table of polishing machine, and RMS $\lambda$/15 after installation in the primary mirror cell. A test observation performed at Daeduk Observatory at Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute by utilizing the exiting mount, and resulted in $39.8\;{\mu}m$ of stellar FWHM. It was larger than the value from numerical simulation, and showed wing-shaped stellar image. It turned out that the measured-curvature of the secondary mirror, 1,820 mm, was not the same as the designed one, 1,795.977 mm. We fabricated the secondary mirror to the designed value, and finally obtained a stellar FWHM of $27\;{\mu}m$ after re-installation of the optical system into SSO NESS Observatory in Australia.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.533-537
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• 2013

Space telescope optics is one of the major parts of any space mission used to observe astronomical targets or the Earth. This kind of space mission typically involves bulky and complex opto-mechanics with a long optical tube, but attempts have been made to observe a target with a small satellite. In this paper, we describe the optical design of a reflecting telescope for use in a CubeSat mission. For this design we adopt the off-axis segmented method for astronomical observation techniques based on a Ritchey-Chr$\acute{e}$tien type telescope. The primary mirror shape is a rectangle with dimensions of $8cm{\times}8cm$, and the secondary mirror has dimensions of $2.4cm{\times}4.1cm$. The focal ratio is 3 which can yield a 0.383 degree diagonal angle in a $1280{\times}800$ CMOS color image sensor with a pixel size of $3{\mu}m{\times}3{\mu}m$. This optical design can capture a ${\sim}4km{\times}{\sim}2.3km$ area of the earth's surface at 700 km altitude operation.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.110.1-110.1
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• 2014

The optics of Space telescope is one of the major parts of space mission used for imaging observation of astronomical targets and the Earth. These kinds of space mission have a bulky and complex opto-mechanics with a long optical tube, but there are attempts have been made to observe a target with a small satellite in many ways. In this paper, we describe an optical design of a reflecting telescope for use in a CubeSat mission. For this design, we adopt the off-axis segmented method of astronomical observation techniques based on the Ritchey-Chr$\acute{e}$tien type telescope. The primary mirror shape is a rectangle with dimensions of $8cm{\times}8cm$, and a secondary mirror has dimensions of $2.4cm{\times}4.1cm$. The focal ratio is 3 which can obtain a $0.3{\times}0.2$ degree diagonal angle in a $1280{\times}800$ CMOS color image sensor with a pixel size of $3{\mu}m{\times}3{\mu}m$. This optical design can capture a ${\sim}4km{\times}{\sim}2.3km$ area of the earth's surface at 700 km altitude operation. Based on this conceptual design, we will keep trying to study more for astronomical observation with Attitude control system.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.66.3-67
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• 2016

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) will feature two interchangeable Gregorian secondary mirrors, an adaptive secondary mirror (ASM) and a fast-steering secondary mirror (FSM). The FSM has an effective diameter of 3.2 m and built as seven 1.1 m diameter circular segments, which are conjugated 1:1 to the seven 8.4m segments of the primary. Each FSM segment contains a tip-tilt capability for fine co-alignment of the telescope subapertures and fast guiding to attenuate telescope wind shake and mount control jitter. This tip-tilt capability thus enhances performance of the telescope in the seeing limited observation mode. As the first stage of the FSM development, KASI conducted a Phase 0 study to develop a program plan detailing the design and manufacturing process for the seven FSM segments. The GMTO-KASI team matured this plan via an internal review in May 2016 and the revised plan was further assessed by an external review in June 2016. In this poster, we present the technical aspects of the FSM development plan.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.79-84
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• 2012

After a visit by Peter Waddell from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK in 1991, Robert H. Koch launched a program at the University of Pennsylvania to build lightweight pneumatic membrane mirrors, initially for balloon flight observations where weight is at a premium. Mirror cells were fabricated from sizes 0.18 m to 1.77 m, and experiments conducted to characterize the mirror figure and stability. Most of the work stopped after Prof. Koch's retirement in 1996 until 2006 when the authors expressed an interest in building an array of medium-aperture portable telescopes. The program restarted in earnest at Gravic, Inc. in Malvern, PA in 2008 with Koch using his extensive observational astronomy experience to guide the fabrication of a fully operational 1.07 m membrane mirror telescope with an optical tube assembly weighing under 45 Kg. Residual wavefront aberrations remediation resulted in Koch and the authors investigating membrane tensioning techniques with different cell designs, active secondary wavefront correction, photometric algorithms for aberrated images, and the use of additional lightweight mirror substrates from the Alt-Az Initiative Group, such as foamed glass. The best result for the lightweight mirrors was a point spread function spot size of several arc seconds. A lightweight 1.6 m cast aluminum cell alt-az telescope was subsequently designed by Koch and the authors for prime focus use.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.178-183
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• 2009

At the time that the Keck-I 10m telescope was constructed in 1993, the era of Very Large Telescopes (VLTs) was opened. Now thirteen VLTs are in operation, and the largest of the monolithic mirrors is 8.4 m in diameter. Such monolithic mirrors are mostly aspheric and require high accuracies on the surface figures, reaching up to the diffraction limit. At present, next generation telescopes, Giant telescopes, are being developed. One is the GMT (Giant Magellan Telescope) whose size is 25.4 m in diameter. The primary mirror consists of seven segments figuring elliptical shapes on the surface. The surrounding six segments are off-axis and the edges are steep, as the fast focal ratio is adopted. It means that testing of the mirrors is a challenging task. In this paper, testing methods for the GMT primary mirror are reviewed, and accuracy of measuring devices is assessed. Results and discussions follow.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.40.4-40.4
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• 2020

Kyung Hee university invented the Transformable Reflective Telescope (TRT) for optical experiment and education. The TRT kit can transform into three optical configurations from Newtonian to Cassegrain to Gregorian by exchanging the secondary mirror. We designed the Ebert-Fastie spectrograph as an extension of the TRT kit. The primary mirror of the TRT kit serves as both collimator and camera lens, and the reflective grating as the dispersing element is placed along the optical axis of the primary mirror. We designed and fabricated the grating holder and the source units using 3D printer. Baffle was also fabricated to suppress the stray light, which was reduced by 83%. The spectrograph can observe the optical wavelength range (4000Å~7000Å). Measured resolving power (R=λ/Δλ) was ~700 with slit width of 0.18mm. The spectrograph is optimized for f/24, and the spectral pixel scale is 0.49Å/pixel with Canon 550D detector. We present the sample spectra of discharged Ne, Ar and Kr gases. The flexible setting and high performance make this spectrograph a useful tool for education and experiment.