AO for Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs)

The highest recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences' Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee (2001) was the design and construction of a ground-based 30-m telescope, equipped with adaptive optics (a giant segmented mirror telescope, or GSMT). Developing an adequate adaptive optics system for this telescope will be extremely challenging and will require developments in most technical areas of adaptive optics. Making a major contribution towards achieving this national priority is a natural and suitable objective for the CfAO. The benefits of multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) include widening the diffraction-limited field of view and achieving near-complete sky coverage with laser beacons (by overcoming the cone effect). While the ultimate implementation of a MCAO system for a 30-m telescope will require both time and resources far beyond the scope of the CfAO, we believe that we can develop the crucial concepts and components needed for its successful implementation.

CfAO Associate Director Don Gavel has generated an overview of this theme.

Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation of AO Systems for ELTs Project Status