Abstract
The Fresnel Diffractive Array Imager (FDAI) is a new optical concept proposed for large telescopes in space. To evaluate its performance on real sky objects, we have built a new testbed of FDAI, especially designed for on-sky operation. It is an evolution of the laboratory setup previously used to validate the concept on artificial sources. In order to observe celestial objects, this new two-module testbed was installed in July 2009 at Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (Nice, France). The two modules of the testbed (the Fresnel array module and the receiver module), were secured at both ends of the 19 m long tube of an historical refractor, used as an optical bench on an equatorial mount. In this article, we focus on the evolution steps from a laboratory experiment to the first observation prototype, and on the targets chosen for performance assessment. We show the first on-sky results of a FDAI, although they do not reflect the nominal performances of the final testbed. These nominal performances have been attained only with the latest and most sophisticated prototype, and are presented in a separate article in this special issue.
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Acknowledgements
This work has been funded by CNES, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Fondation STAE, and made possible thanks to the involvement of many people at Observatoire Midi Pyrénées and Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur. We are specially thankful to Jacqueline Platzer, Driss Kouach, Bruno Dubois, Marcel Belot, Marin Cortial, Jean-Jacques Bois, Carine Marchive, Thierry Mallet, and the “Service de Mécanique Mutualisé” at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur.
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Rivet, JP., Koechlin, L., Raksasataya, T. et al. Fresnel imager testbeds: setting up, evolution, and first images. Exp Astron 30, 149–164 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-011-9213-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-011-9213-x