Biomedical subjects

Stephen Padin

Publications and source records attributed to Stephen Padin.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Location of the elevation axis in a large optical telescope.

Proposed designs for the next generation of large optical telescopes favor a tripod or quadrupod secondary support, and a primary supported from the back, but it is not yet clear whether the elevation axis should be in front of the primary or behind it. A study is described of the effect of elevation-axis location on key performance parameters (fundamental frequency, blockage, and wind-induced secondary decenter) for a 30-m Cassegrain telescope with amount configuration that is typical of the new designs. For a fast (e.g., f/1) primary, the best location for the elevation axis is behind the primary. The penalty for moving the elevation axis in front of the primary is roughly a 40% decrease in fundamental frequency and a corresponding reduction in the control bandwidth for pointing and optical alignment.

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PubMed2004

Model of image degradation due to wind buffeting on an extremely large telescope.

A parametric model of wind buffeting on an extremely large telescope with a multipod secondary support is described. The model estimates wave-front errors that are due to wind buffeting on a segmented primary, wind-induced secondary figure and position errors, and primary-mirror deformations caused by wind forces on the secondary support. The approach is based on a Zernike expansion of pressure fluctuations, with simple models of stiffness, resonance, and control. The model shows that wind buffeting on a multipod attached to the primary mirror cell significantly degrades the image quality in a large telescope with a slow primary.

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PubMed2003

Mirrors with regular hexagonal segments.

The point-spread function and emissivity are calculated for a mirror made from regular hexagonal segments of just a few different sizes. A mirror of this type has many similar segments, which is an advantage for manufacturing, and for an approximately f/1 mirror with > or = 1000 segments and > or = 4 sizes of regular hexagons the increase in intersegment gap area is negligible. This result raises the possibility of making a mirror from very large numbers of identical small segments that are warped to the required figure.

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PubMed2003

Spatial spectrum analysis of wave-front correction with a segmented mirror.

An expression is derived for the spatial power spectrum of wave-front errors after correction with a segmented mirror. This includes estimates of the spectral contributions of segment piston and tilt corrections and spatial aliasing by a regular array of segments. The approach allows rapid computation of wave-front error spectra in systems with highly segmented mirrors.

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PubMed2003

Design considerations for a highly segmented mirror.

Design issues for a 30-m highly segmented mirror are explored, with emphasis on parametric models of simple, inexpensive segments. A mirror with many small segments offers cost savings through quantity production and permits high-order active and adaptive wave-front corrections. For a 30-m f/1.5 paraboloidal mirror made of spherical, hexagonal glass segments, with simple warping harnesses and three-point supports, the maximum segment diameter is approximately 100 mm, and the minimum segment thickness is approximately 5 mm. Large-amplitude, low-order gravitational deformations in the mirror cell can be compensated if the segments are mounted on a plate floating on astatic supports. Because gravitational deformations in the plate are small, the segment actuators require a stroke of only a few tens of micrometers, and the segment positions can be measured by a wave-front sensor.

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PubMed2002

Wind-induced deformations in a segmented mirror.

A Zernike expansion of wind-induced deformations in a segmented mirror is described. The wind model is a frozen turbulent field with a Kolmogorov spectrum for scales smaller than the outer scale and a flat spectrum for scales larger than the outer scale. The approach allows a mode-by-mode comparison of the wave-front error contributions from atmospheric phase distortions, wind-induced deformations, and the mirror control system noise. This is used to design a controller that minimizes the mirror surface errors by application of corrections based on edge sensor measurements and wave-front measurements on a guide star.

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