An ADC for the SAM on the SOAR Telescope

SAM (Soar Adaptive-optics Module), the SOAR (Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research) GLAO facility is in service since 2011, with a UV, 355nm Laser Guide Star (LGS). The atmospheric wavefront error is therefore measured at 355nm and the star images are corrected in the visible range (BVRI bands). An ADC is required for High Resolution imaging at low telescope elevation, especially at shorter wavelengths of the visible spectrum. The ADC is based on 80mm diameter rotating prisms. This compact unit, fully automated, can be inserted or removed from the tightly constrained SAM collimated beam space-envelope, it adjusts to the parallactic angle and corrects the atmospheric dispersion. Here we present the optical and opto-mechanical design, the control design, the operational strategy and performance results obtained from extensive use in on-sky HR Speckle Imaging.