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arXiv 1701.06397astro-ph.IM
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带有Keck/NIRC2涡流日冕仪的QACITS指向控制技术的空中性能

On-sky performance of the QACITS pointing control technique with the Keck/NIRC2 vortex coronagraph

Elsa Huby, Michael Bottom, Bruno Femenia, Henry Ngo, Dimitri Mawet, Eugene Serabyn, Olivier Absil

摘要:

涡旋日冕仪现在可以用Keck/NIRC 2仪器在L波段进行高对比度观测。达到最佳性能的电晕放电需要精细控制的波前入射到相位掩模。特别是,定心误差会导致显著的恒星光泄漏,降低对比度性能,并阻止观察到的恒星周围的微弱行星同伴的观察。因此,关键的是校正星形图像从相位掩模中心的可能的缓慢漂移,该缓慢漂移通常是由于温度和/或重力场变化引起的机械弯曲,或者由于在光瞳跟踪模式下旋转的光学器件之间的未对准。基于QACITS算法的涡旋日冕的控制回路,因此已开发和部署的凯克/NIRC 2仪器。该算法执行整个观测序列,包括校准步骤、恒星在涡旋中心的初始定心以及在获取科学帧期间的稳定。天空数据表明,QACITS控制回路稳定的恒星图像的位置下降到2.4质量均方根在约0.02赫兹的频率。然而,估计器的精度可能受到由于Lyot光阑相对于入射光瞳的未对准而引起的系统误差的限制,估计为4.5 μ s的量级。提出了一种将这种偏置的幅度降低到1 mas的方法。QACITS控制回路已成功实现,并提供了一个强大的方法,中心和稳定的旋涡掩模上的恒星图像。此外,与手动操作相比,QACITS确保了可重复的指向质量,并显著提高了观察效率。它现在经常用于凯克/NIRC 2的涡旋日冕观测,提供适合于系外行星和盘成像的对比度和角分辨率能力。

英文摘要:

A vortex coronagraph is now available for high contrast observations with the Keck/NIRC2 instrument at L band. Reaching the optimal performance of the coronagraph requires fine control of the wavefront incident on the phase mask. In particular, centering errors can lead to significant stellar light leakage that degrades the contrast performance and prevents the observation of faint planetary companions around the observed stars. It is thus critical to correct for the possible slow drift of the star image from the phase mask center, generally due to mechanical flexures induced by temperature and/or gravity field variation, or to misalignment between the optics that rotate in pupil tracking mode. A control loop based on the QACITS algorithm for the vortex coronagraph has thus been developed and deployed for the Keck/NIRC2 instrument. This algorithm executes the entire observing sequence, including the calibration steps, initial centering of the star on the vortex center and stabilisation during the acquisition of science frames. On-sky data show that the QACITS control loop stabilizes the position of the star image down to 2.4 mas rms at a frequency of about 0.02 Hz. However, the accuracy of the estimator is probably limited by a systematic error due to a misalignment of the Lyot stop with respect to the entrance pupil, estimated to be on the order of 4.5 mas. A method to reduce the amplitude of this bias down to 1 mas is proposed. The QACITS control loop has been successfully implemented and provides a robust method to center and stabilize the star image on the vortex mask. In addition, QACITS ensures a repeatable pointing quality and significantly improves the observing efficiency compared to manual operations. It is now routinely used for vortex coronagraph observations at Keck/NIRC2, providing contrast and angular resolution capabilities suited for exoplanet and disk imaging.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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