Dark Energy Camera for Blanco

Binder, Gary A. ; /SLAC, /Caltech

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

关键词: Cameras;    Telescopes Astrophysics;    Alignment;    Algorithms;    71 Classical And Quantum Mechanics, General Physics;   

DOI  :  10.2172/992943
RP-ID  :  SLAC-TN-10-004
RP-ID  :  AC02-76SF00515
RP-ID  :  992943

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

In order to make accurate measurements of dark energy, a system is needed to monitor the focus and alignment of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to be located on the Blanco 4m Telescope for the upcoming Dark Energy Survey. One new approach under development is to fit out-of-focus star images to a point spread function from which information about the focus and tilt of the camera can be obtained. As a first test of a new algorithm using this idea, simulated star images produced from a model of DECam in the optics software Zemax were fitted. Then, real images from the Mosaic II imager currently installed on the Blanco telescope were used to investigate the algorithm's capabilities. A number of problems with the algorithm were found, and more work is needed to understand its limitations and improve its capabilities so it can reliably predict camera alignment and focus.