Adriano De Rosa

Euclid near infrared spectrophotometer instrument concept and first test results at the end of phase B

The Euclid mission objective is to understand why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating by mapping the geometry of the dark Universe by investigating the distance-redshift relationship and tracing the evolution of cosmic structures. The Euclid project is part of ESAs Cosmic Vision program with its launch planned for 2020. The NISP (Near Infrared Spectro-Photometer) is one of the two Euclid instruments and is operating in the near-IR spectral region (0.9-2μm) as a photometer and spectrometer. The instrument is composed of: - a cold (135K) optomechanical subsystem consisting of a SiC structure, an optical assembly (corrector and camera lens), a filter wheel mechanism, a grism wheel mechanism, a calibration unit and a thermal control system - a detection subsystem based on a mosaic of 16 Teledyne HAWAII2RG cooled to 95K with their front-end readout electronic cooled to 140K, integrated on a mechanical focal plane structure made with Molybdenum and Aluminum. The detection subsystem is mounted on the optomechanical subsystem structure - a warm electronic subsystem (280K) composed of a data processing / detector control unit and of an instrument control unit that interfaces with the spacecraft via a 1553 bus for command and control and via Spacewire links for science data This presentation describes the architecture of the instrument at the end of the phase B (Preliminary Design Review), the expected performance, the technological key challenges and preliminary test results obtained on a detection system demonstration model.

Preparing for the phase B of the E-ELT MCAO module project

The Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics module for the European Extremely Large Telescope has been designed to achieve uniform compensation of the atmospheric turbulence effects on a wide field of view in the near infrared. The design realized in the Phase A of the project is undergoing major revision in order to define a robust baseline in view of the next phases of the project. An overview of the on-going activities is presented.

MAORY for ELT: preliminary mechanical design of the support structure

MAORY (Multi Conjugate Adaptive Optics RelaY) is one of the four instruments for the ELT (Extremely Large Telescope) approved for construction. It is an adaptive optics module able to compensate the wavefront disturbances affecting the scientific observations, achieving high strehl ratio and high sky coverage. MAORY will be located on the straight-through port of the telescope Nasmyth platform and shall re-image the telescope focal plane to a wide field camera (MICADO) and a possible future second instrument. A trade-off study among different mechanical design options for the main mechanical structure has been carried out. This paper outlines an overview of the mechanical design that gives a better result in terms of stability, vibrations and manufacturing.

Parallel waveform extraction algorithms for the Cherenkov Telescope Array Real-Time Analysis

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation observatory for the study of very high-energy gamma rays from about 20 GeV up to 300 TeV. Thanks to the large effective area and field of view, the CTA observatory will be characterized by an unprecedented sensitivity to transient flaring gamma-ray phenomena compared to both current ground (e.g. MAGIC, VERITAS, H.E.S.S.) and space (e.g. Fermi) gamma-ray telescopes. In order to trigger the astrophysics community for follow-up observations, or being able to quickly respond to external science alerts, a fast analysis pipeline is crucial. This will be accomplished by means of a Real-Time Analysis (RTA) pipeline, a fast and automated science alert trigger system, becoming a key system of the CTA observatory. Among the CTA design key requirements to the RTA system, the most challenging is the generation of alerts within 30 seconds from the last acquired event, while obtaining a flux sensitivity not worse than the one of the final analysis by more than a factor of 3. A dedicated software and hardware architecture for the RTA pipeline must be designed and tested. We present comparison of OpenCL solutions using different kind of devices like CPUs, Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) and Field Programmable Array (FPGA) cards for the Real-Time data reduction of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) triggered data.

SKA synergy with Microwave Background studies

The extremely high sensitivity and resolution of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be useful for addressing a wide set of themes relevant for cosmology, in synergy with current and future cosmic microwave background (CMB) projects. Many of these themes also have a link with future optical-IR and X-ray observations. We discuss the scientific perspectives for these goals, the instrumental requirements and the observational and data analysis approaches, and identify several topics that are important for cosmology and astrophysics at different cosmic epochs.

A prototype for the real-time analysis of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory will be one of the biggest ground-based very-high-energy (VHE) γ- ray observatory. CTA will achieve a factor of 10 improvement in sensitivity from some tens of GeV to beyond 100 TeV with respect to existing telescopes. The CTA observatory will be capable of issuing alerts on variable and transient sources to maximize the scientific return. To capture these phenomena during their evolution and for effective communication to the astrophysical community, speed is crucial. This requires a system with a reliable automated trigger that can issue alerts immediately upon detection of γ-ray flares. This will be accomplished by means of a Real-Time Analysis (RTA) pipeline, a key system of the CTA observatory. The latency and sensitivity requirements of the alarm system impose a challenge because of the anticipated large data rate, between 0.5 and 8 GB/s. As a consequence, substantial efforts toward the optimization of highthroughput computing service are envisioned. For these reasons our working group has started the development of a prototype of the Real-Time Analysis pipeline. The main goals of this prototype are to test: (i) a set of frameworks and design patterns useful for the inter-process communication between software processes running on memory; (ii) the sustainability of the foreseen CTA data rate in terms of data throughput with different hardware (e.g. accelerators) and software configurations, (iii) the reuse of nonreal- time algorithms or how much we need to simplify algorithms to be compliant with CTA requirements, (iv) interface issues between the different CTA systems. In this work we focus on goals (i) and (ii).

Optical design of the Post Focal Relay of MAORY

The Multi Conjugate Adaptive Optics Relay (MAORY) for the European Extremely Large Telescope shall re-image the telescope focal plane for the client instruments installed on two exit ports. By means of natural and artificial (laser) reference sources for wavefront sensing, and of deformable mirrors for wavefront correction, MAORY shall be able to compensate the wavefront disturbances affecting the scientific observations, achieving high Strehl ratio and high sky coverage. The optical interfaces to the client instruments must replicate the telescope one while the volume allocation on the Nasmyth platform is under definition at the moment of this writing. We show the latest version of the optical design that matches the current requests and its optical performance. The laser guide stars channel, separated from the science path by means of a dichroic beam-splitter, is also presented.

The MAORY first-light adaptive optics module for E-ELT - eScholarship

The MAORY adaptive optics module is part of the first light instrumentation suite for the E-ELT. The MAORY project phase B is going to start soon. This paper contains a system-level overview of the current instrument design.

Euclid near infrared spectrophotometer instrument concept and first test results at the end of phase B or the GRAVITY beam combiner instrument at the VLTI

The Euclid mission objective is to understand why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating by mapping the geometry of the dark Universe by investigating the distance-redshift relationship and tracing the evolution of cosmic structures. The Euclid project is part of ESAs Cosmic Vision program with its launch planned for 2020. The NISP (Near Infrared Spectro-Photometer) is one of the two Euclid instruments and is operating in the near-IR spectral region (0.9-2μm) as a photometer and spectrometer. The instrument is composed of: - a cold (135K) optomechanical subsystem consisting of a SiC structure, an optical assembly (corrector and camera lens), a filter wheel mechanism, a grism wheel mechanism, a calibration unit and a thermal control system - a detection subsystem based on a mosaic of 16 Teledyne HAWAII2RG cooled to 95K with their front-end readout electronic cooled to 140K, integrated on a mechanical focal plane structure made with Molybdenum and Aluminum. The detection subsystem is mounted on the optomechanical subsystem structure - a warm electronic subsystem (280K) composed of a data processing / detector control unit and of an instrument control unit that interfaces with the spacecraft via a 1553 bus for command and control and via Spacewire links for science data This presentation describes the architecture of the instrument at the end of the phase B (Preliminary Design Review), the expected performance, the technological key challenges and preliminary test results obtained on a detection system demonstration model.

Optical design trade-offs of the multi conjugate adaptive optics relay for the European Extremely Large Telescope

The scope of this paper is to describe some possible design concepts of the post optical relay inside the multi conjugate adaptive optics module for the European Extremely Large Telescope. The module is planned to be placed at the Nasmyth focus of the telescope. The optical relay must re-image the telescope focal plane with diffraction limited performance and low geometric distortion, for a field of view of 75” and for a wavelength range between 0.8 and 2.4μm. A technical annular field of view with inner diameter of 75” and outer diameter of 160” to search 3 for natural guide stars is also required. Wavefront sensing is performed by means of 6 laser guide stars arranged on a circle of at least 120” diameter while wavefront correction is performed by two deformable mirrors inside the relay, in addition to the telescope adaptive mirror. The final optical design will be a trade-off among adaptive optics performance, optical interface requirements, mechanical interface requirements and technological feasibility of key hardware components. The size of the deformable mirrors and the image quality of the layer conjugates are important design drivers, related to the design of the collimating optics after the input focal plane and to the deformable mirrors tilt respect to the chief ray. The optical interface at the output focal plane must be acceptable for the client instruments, in terms of field curvature, focal ratio and exit pupil position. The number of optical surfaces inside the relay has to be as small as possible to limit thermal background. Splitting of the laser guide star channel from the science light channel may be achieved either in wavelength, by means of a dichroic placed close to a pupil image, or in field, by means of an perforated dichroic placed at an intermediate focal plane. The laser guide star beams have to be focused with acceptable optical performance on a fixed image plane compensating the effects of the sodium layer range variation with Zenith angle during observations. Other relay configurations, in the case of further client instruments to be fed by the relay, are under investigation. The designs must also take into consideration the required clearance among the optical elements to avoid vignetting and mechanical interference issues, while fitting in the available space on the telescope Nasmyth platform. In this paper two different optical design configurations are analysed, taking into account all these aspects. For all the proposed designs the optical performance will be presented.