Publication Info
M. Vorontsov, Jim F. Riker, G. Carhart, V. S. Rao Gudimetla, L. Beresnev, T. Weyrauch, Atmospheric Turbulence Compensation of Point Source Images Using Asynchronous Stochastic Parallel Gradient Descent Technique on AMOS 3.6 m Telescope, AMOS Conference Proceedings, Pages 658-669 (2007).
Abstract
The Stochastic Parallel Gradient Descent Technique-based Adaptive Optics (SPGD-AO) system described in this presentation does not use a conventional wavefront sensor. It uses a metric signal collected by a single pixel detector placed behind a pinhole in the image plane to drive three deformable mirrors (DMs). The system is designed to compensate the image for turbulence effects. The theory behind this method is described in detail in [1]. However this technique, while widely simulated and tested in the laboratory, was not yet verified in astronomical field site experiments. During the month of May 2007, a series of experiments with SPGD-AO compensation on stars at several elevation angles and turbulence levels were conducted successfully at the US Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site (AMOS) using the 3.6 m telescope. Some of the results of these experiments are described in this paper. This is the first time SPGD-AO systems have been tested and verified in astronomical field site experiments.
