TMT’s MODHIS team and reviewers during the MODHIS Midterm Conceptual Design Review, Pasadena 30 January 2024.
Key numbers of the US-ELTP partnership showcased on exhibit backdrop.
TIO participated in the 243th American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting, a major international organization of professional astronomers organized recently in Louisiana. Collaborating with its United States Extremely Large Telescope Program (US-ELTP) partners, including the Giant Magellan Telescope and NSF’s NOIRLab, TIO shared a spacious booth and showcased its collaborative operations within the US-ELTP. During the conference, the partnership shared updates on the work being done and hosted a successful US-ELTP Open House.
On 11 December 2023, Professor Dimitri Mawet, from CALTECH, presents MODHIS, the high-resolution infrared spectrograph currently in development as one of the first light instruments for TMT. As the Principal Investigator of MODHIS, Mawet provides a comprehensive overview of its current design, highlighting the main science goals expected to be achieved by the instrument.
Attendees from the ELT Science in Light of JWST conference visited the TIO Lab in Monrovia on 13 December 2023. TIO engineers conducted a tour of the laboratory, providing detailed information about the development of TMT’s primary mirror control, and the technical challenges associated with maintaining each of the 492 mirror segments in optimal position and shape. This visit allowed conference participants to gain a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of the TMT project, while also fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration between the ELT projects and their respective scientific communities.
The LGSF, mounted on the telescope structure, projects powerful laser beams into the Earth’s upper atmosphere, generating artificial stars to facilitate adaptive optics correction for atmospheric turbulence.
The Laser Units (each consisting of a laser head and laser electronics) are installed on the laser platform. A long beam transfer optics enables the laser beams to be relayed to the LGSF Top End, where they are formatted and launched from a laser launch telescope.
The LGSF can project four distinct LGS asterisms for TMT first light AO system NFIRAOS and future AO systems.
The diagram showcases key components such as the LGSF Top End Support Structure, the asterism generator, the K mirror, the collimator, the Laser Launch Telescope, and the aircraft detection system.
Nearly 30 engineers and scientists attended the review in person at the Pasadena project office or remotely. The international review panel included experts from ESO, Durham University, NRC, and TIO.
The TMT LGSF Laser System configuration includes eight laser units and the Laser Cooling System mounted on the laser platform. Each of the laser units is composed of a Laser Head and a Laser Electronic cabinet.
TMT M2SSP Conceptual Design. The secondary mirror will be mounted in a steel mirror cell that contains the axial and lateral supports for the mirror.
