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PILOT — Pathfinder for an International Large Optical Telescope. John Storey With Jon Lawrence, Michael Ashley and Michael Burton. Image: John Storey. Outline. Why PILOT? Specification Tower? Logistics Next steps. Image: Patrik Kaufmann. PILOT: Pathfinder for an - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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PILOT—Pathfinder for an International Large Optical
Telescope
John StoreyWith Jon Lawrence, Michael Ashley and Michael Burton
Image: John Storey
Outline
• Why PILOT?• Specification• Tower?• Logistics• Next steps
Image: Patrik Kaufmann
Image: EOST
PILOT: Pathfinder for an
International Large Optical Telescope.
Why a ~2.4 metre telescope?• It is the next step along a path towards
– An interferometer– A large filled-aperture HAR telescope– A large filled-aperture wide-field telescope– A sub-mm telescope
• It is available “off the shelf” and so it is– Inexpensive (eg, passive mirror support)– Fast (30 months)
• The instrumentation is small and inexpensive• It can remain at Dome C as special-purpose telescope after
the “pathfinder” phase.
PILOT, 2.4 metres, 2012
LAPCAT, 8 metres, 2016GMTA, 24 metres, 2026
Towards an Antarctic ELT
LAPCAT The Large Antarctic Plateau Clear Aperture Telescope
Animation: Inside Systems Gmbh
PILOT could be similar to the Lick
Rocky Planet Finder telescope
Image: EOST
Strawman design:• 2.4 metre primary• Dual Nasmyth f/10• Brushless direct drive• Fast tip-tilt secondary
PILOT Functional Specification• PILOT will have mirror diameter 1.8m – 2.4m, with
preference for the largest size possible.• Classic two-mirror design; Ritchey-Cretien or Gregorian, and
using Nasmyth focus.• Able to point to any elevations greater than 20 at all
azimuths.• Two modes of operation; wide-field, natural-seeing limited
operating at about f/10, over a field of view 75mm x 75mm; and
• Diffraction-limited imaging at about f/20 over at least 37mm x 37mm.
• Designs with fixed, or at least the same, camera in the two modes are strongly preferred.
• Possible future use of PILOT as part of an interferometer
PASA, 22, (2005),199 – 235.
See also:
www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jacara/antbib.php
Can PILOT act as a pathfinder for future telescopes, and do good science?
Image: John Storey
Image: NASA
There are ~100,000 objects in earth orbit with sizes between 1 cm and 10cm.
Most are in unknown orbits.
A collision with any one of these objects could destroy a $1b satellite.
Dome C is the ideal location for detection of polar-orbitting debris.
Could PILOT have a “dual role”?
Satellite debris
Telescope Elevation Advantages
Rodgers, Swain and Hippler 2006
For wide-field imaging; no
For high-res. imaging; maybe
PILOT weighs 27 tonnes
30 m “Hammerschlag” tower weighs 100 tonnes
Deflection under maximum wind gusts at Dome C is ~100 milli arcsec (Lanford et al 2006)
Image: Robert Hammerschlag et al, 2006
Is a tower required?
Dutch Open Telescope, La Palma
The new Australian Antarctic Division air-link will be fully operational in 2007.
Dome C
Images: Australian Antarctic Division
Logistic support from Hobart
Hobart ●
Sydney ●
Dome C ●
Image: Australian Antarctic Division
DdU ● ● Casey
l’Astrolabe
Getting PILOT from Dumont d’Urville to Dome C.
Image: John Storey
Complete 1.8-metre telescope (minus mirror)
Image: Electro-Optic Systems
2.4 m telescope
Image: John Storey
Another 2.4 m telescope
And one more...
Governance of PILOT
• Australia and Europe share the total cost 50:50
• Australia and Europe share the observing time 50:50
• All data become publicly available after 18 months
• Instruments are preferably constructed as joint ventures (could also involve US?)
• Exchange of students, postdocs is strongly encouraged!
PILOT Organisational chart, Stage 1
FP6
Australian PILOTProject Office
ARENA
NA1NA2 NA4NA3 NA5
NCRIS
AAL
PILOT ScienceOffice
UNSW
Univ. Nice
ARENA MoU
AAL = Astronomy Australia Limited
AAAAC
Current status
• Contract with Australian DEST under negotiation
• Will Saunders appointed as Project Scientist
• Peter Gillingham appointed as Project Guru
• Applicant for Project Engineer being selected
• First meeting of AAAAC held on 22 February 07
• Risk Workshop held at SKM on 23 February 07
• Draft Functional Specification written
The next steps
• Appoint Project Manager
• Define work packages
• Further MoUs and contracts with European teams
• Joint DDP program (€600k+ ; 1 year)
• Engineering design studies
• Prototyping and testing of components
• Design Reference Mission (Science)
• Critical Design Review
• Formal agreement on construction
• Construction, deployment and operation!
...and following a successful Critical Design Review...
PILOT Organisation chart, Stage 2
European fundingsources
Aus. DEST
AAL
PILOT Board
PILOT Office
Aus. Ant. Astro.
Australian PILOTScience Office
European PILOTScience Office
AAAAC
Image: David A. Hardy
UNSW team: Michael Ashley, Colin Bonner, Tui Britton, Michael Burton, Jessie Christiansen, Jon Everett, Shane Hengst, Balt Indermuehle, Suzanne Kenyon, Jon Lawrence, Daniel Luong-Van, John Storey.
Image: Jon Lawrence
M.C.B. Ashley, M.G. Burton, J.S. Lawrence & J.W.V. Storey, Robotic telescopes on the Antarctic plateau, Astronomische Nachrichten, 325, (2004), 619 – 625.
See also:A.M. Fowler, N. Sharp, W. Ball, A.E.T. Schinckel, M.C.B. Ashley, M. Boccas, J.W.V. Storey, D. Depoy, P. Martini, D.A. Harper and R.D. Marks, ABU/SPIREX: The South Pole Thermal IR Experiment, Proc SPIE, (1998), 3354, 1170 – 1178.
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