Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T22:44:46.212Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Near-Infrared Capabilities of LEST

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2017

Oddbjørn Engvold*
Affiliation:
Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, N-0315 Oslo, Norway

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The Large Earth-based Solar Telescope (LEST) will be a powerful, next-generation telescope with unprecedented angular resolution, capable of highly accurate polarimetry of the Sun, covering the optical spectral range from about 300 nm into the near infrared to about 2.5 μm.

The telescope is a 2.4-m aperture, “polarization-free” concept based on a modified Gregorian optical system. A fast polarization modulator will be located close to the secondary focus of the system. An actively controlled NTT-type main mirror, a high precision pointing and tracking system, a helium-filled light path and a thin entrance window, together with an integrated adaptive optics system, will give the telescope near diffraction-limited performance in the visible. LEST will be sited on La Palma, in the Canary Islands, near the caldera rim on the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, which often offers excellent seeing. A frequently occurring seeing parameter of ro = 15–20 cm in the visible will correspond to ro ≥ 1 m in the near IR.

The construction of LEST will begin in 1993, and the telescope is to be ready for “first light” in 1997. The telescope facility will accommodate a large number of focal plane instruments on a spacious instrument table. LEST will be made available for near-IR instrumentation from the start of its regular operation.

Type
Part 7: Infrared Technology and the Future
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1994 

References

Acton, D.S.: 1990, Real-Time Solar Imaging with a 19-segment Active Mirror System, , .Google Scholar
Andersen, T.E., Dunn, R.B., and Engvold, O.: 1985, LEST Technical Report No. 7.Google Scholar
Dunn, R.B.: 1984, LEST Technical Report No. 3.Google Scholar
Dunn, R.B.: 1985, Solar Phys. 100, 1.Google Scholar
Dunn, R.B.: 1987, LEST Technical Report No. 28, p. 243.Google Scholar
Engvold, O., Dunn, R.B., Livingston, W.C., and Smartt, R.: 1983, Appl. Optics 22, 10.Google Scholar
Engvold, O., and Hillerud, K.-I.: 1988, LEST Technical Report No. 29.Google Scholar
Engvold, O. and Andersen, T.: 1990a, LEST Design, Report of the LEST Foundation issued August 1990.Google Scholar
Engvold, O. and Andersen, T.: 1990b, LEST Technical Report No. 42.Google Scholar
Keller, C.U., Aebersold, F., Egger, U., Povel, H.P., Steiner, O., and Stenflo, J.O.: 1993, LEST Technical Report No. 53.Google Scholar
Koutchmy, S.: 1993, these proceedings.Google Scholar
Lites, B.W.: 1987a, LEST Technical Report No. 22.Google Scholar
Lites, B.W.: 1987b, LEST Technical Report No. 23.Google Scholar
Livingston, W. and Wallace, L.: 1991, An Atlas of the Solar Spectrum in the Infrared from 1850 to 9000 cm–1 (1.1 to 5.4 μm), NSO Technical Report No. 91-001.Google Scholar
MacQueen, R.M.: 1987, LEST Technical Report No. 24.Google Scholar
Owner-Petersen, M.: 1991, LEST Technical Report No. 49.Google Scholar
Scharmer, G.B.: 1989, in Rutten, R.J. and Severino, G. (eds.), Solar and Stellar Granulation, NATO ASI Series, Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 161.Google Scholar
Solanki, S.K.: 1993, these proceedings.Google Scholar
Stenflo, J.O.: 1989, Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 1, 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stenflo, J.O.: 1991, LEST Technical Report No. 44.Google Scholar
Stenflo, J.O. and Povel, H.P.: 1985, LEST Technical Report No. 12.Google Scholar
Stenflo, J.O., Solanki, S.K., and Harvey, J.W.: 1987, Astron. Astrophys. 173, 167.Google Scholar
Wilson, R.N.: 1990, The Messenger, ESO, No. 59, p. 7.Google Scholar
Wyller, A.A., Scharmer, G.B.: 1985, Vistas in Astronomy 28, 467.Google Scholar
Wyller, A.A.: 1991, LEST -An International Solar Telescope, Pub. of the LEST Foundation.Google Scholar