Adaptive optics using the 3.5-m Starfire Optical Range telescope

The 3.5 meter telescope at the U. S. Air Force’s Starfire Optical Range in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is being equipped with an adaptive optics system for compensation of atmospheric phase disturbances. An optical relay using toroidal mirrors interfaces the telescope to the steering mirror(s), the 941 actuator deformable mirror, and the optical sensors. The methods developed for optimizing this toroidal mirror design are presented. The all reflective design accommodates a wide spectral band and provides near diffraction limited performance over the full one milliradian field of view and for object distances from 12.5 kilometers to infinity. A spectrally flexible and optically efficient design for interfacing the wavefront sensor and science camera(s) to the optical train is used. Alignment techniques have been developed for accurate alignment of the toroidal mirrors and for registration of the deformable mirror and wavefront sensor of the adaptive optics system.