Bibcode
Abrams, D. C.; Dee, Kevin; Agócs, Tibor; Lhome, Emilie; Peñate, J.; Jaskó, Attila; Bányai, Evelin; Burgal, J. A.; Dalton, Gavin; Middleton, Kevin; Bonifacio, Piercarlo; Aguerri, J. A. L.; Trager, S. C.; Balcells, M.
Bibliographical reference
Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 9147, id. 91472K 18 pp. (2014).
Advertised on:
8
2014
Citations
3
Refereed citations
1
Description
WEAVE is the next-generation, wide-field, optical spectroscopy facility
for the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in La Palma, Canary Islands,
Spain. The WHT will undergo a significant adaptation to accommodate this
facility. A two- degree Prime Focus Corrector (PFC), that includes an
Atmospheric Dispersion Compensator, is being planned and is currently in
its final design phase. To compensate for the effects of
temperature-induced image degradation, the entire PFC system will be
translated along the telescope optical axis. The optical system
comprises six lenses, the largest of which will have a diameter of 1.1m.
Now that the optical elements are in production, the designs for the
lens cells and the mounting arrangements are being analysed to ensure
that the image quality of the complete system is better than 1.0 arcsec
(80% encircled energy diameter) over the full field of view. The new PFC
system is designed to be routinely interchanged with the existing
top-end ring. This will maximise the versatility of the WHT and allow
the two top-end systems to be interchanged as dictated by the scientific
needs of the astronomers that will use WEAVE and other instruments on
the telescope. This manuscript describes the work that has been carried
out in developing the designs for the mechanical subsystems and the
plans for mounting the lenses to attain an optical performance that is
commensurate with the requirements derived from planning the WEAVE
surveys.