High fidelity sky coverage analysis via time domain adaptive optics simulations

Area of Science:

• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Optical Engineering
• Computational Science

Background:

• Adaptive optics (AO) systems are crucial for high-resolution astronomical imaging.
• Multiconjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) offers improved sky coverage compared to traditional AO.
• Accurate sky coverage estimation is vital for planning astronomical surveys and observations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a high-fidelity simulation method for estimating the sky coverage of MCAO systems.
• To evaluate MCAO system performance using a novel postprocessing technique with natural guide stars (NGS).
• To model the impact of quadratic wavefront aberrations on NGS point spread functions for improved accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a split tomography control architecture for the MCAO simulation.
• Employed an AO simulation postprocessing technique with hundreds of randomly generated NGS asterisms.
• Developed a novel method to model quadratic wavefront aberrations and their effect on NGS point spread functions.

Main Results:

• The simulation method provides high fidelity in estimating MCAO sky coverage.
• The novel aberration modeling technique accurately captures variations in system performance across different NGS asterisms.
• Design and algorithmic improvements reduced residual wavefront error in tip/tilt and plate scale modes.

Conclusions:

• The described simulation method is crucial for accurate MCAO sky coverage estimation.
• Improvements in wavefront sensor pixel size, weighting, and control algorithms enhance NGS-based MCAO performance.
• This work enables more efficient planning and execution of astronomical observations using MCAO systems.