On-sky performance of KalAO the swift adaptive optics imager on the 1.2m Euler Swiss telescope in La Silla, Chile
Year: 2024
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: We present first on-sky performance results of KalAO, the natural guide star adaptive optics imager on the 1.2m Swiss telescope in La Silla, Chile. It is designed to reach at least 30% Strehl in order to detect stellar companions as close as the 150mas in visible-light, at diffraction limit. KalAO was built to search for binarity in planet hosting stars by following-up planet candidates primarily from the TESS satellite survey. The optical design is optimised for the 450 to 900nm wavelength range and is fitted with SDSS griz filters. Wavefront control works down to I-magnitude 10 stars in order to probe the same parameter space as radial velocity instruments such as HARPS and NIRPS. The system first closed the loop on sky in November 2023 and reached diffraction limit imaging in February 2024. It can carry out AO corrected observation of up to 500 targets in one night, with a Strehl ratio of ≈30%.
DOI: 10.1117/12.3019089
Authors: Janis Hagelberg, Nathanaël Restori, Damien Ségransan, Olivier Guyon, François Wildi, Bruno Chazelas, Christoph Baranec, Vincent Deo, Ludovic Genolet, Michaël Sordet, Fabien Alesina, Malik Algelly, Nicolas Blind, Xavier Bonfils, François Bouchy, Sebastien Bovay, Nicolas Buchschacher, Carlos Cantero, Anthony Carvalho, William Ceva, Uriel Conod, Adrien Crausaz, Léonie Dezempte, Casper Farret, Ian Hughes, Benjamin Küng, Christophe Lovis, Francesco Pepe, Mohammad Rashidi, Samuel Rihs, Arnaud Sevin, Robin Schnell, Muskan Schinde, Gilles Simon, Stephane Udry, Luc Weber
Institutions: University of Geneva, University of Arizona, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Astrobiology Center, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Paris Cité, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4402167291