TELESCOPE DETAILS
The scientific goals of the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) motivate its special characteristics of wide-field, high throughput, high surface accuracy and high altitude location. During the telescope’s scientific lifetime, mm/submm detector arrays will become available that are many times larger than those in present-day cameras. To accommodate next-generation, large-format cameras and enable large-scale galaxy and molecular cloud surveys, the optical design is optimized for a wide field of view. The baseline telescope builds on a crossed-Dragone optical design proposed by Cornell professor Mike Niemack [1] and a novel azimuth-elevation mount proposed by Project Engineer Steve Parshley [2]. The optical design will focus the incoming light, with high throughput, over a flat focal area capable of accommodating > 105 detectors. Multiple instruments will be supported and observations will be fully remote control. The mirror surfaces (all passive) will be made of machined aluminum tiles on a thermally stable support structure.
[1] M. Niemack, Applied Optics, 2016, 55(7), pp1688-1696.
[2] Conceptual Design by S. Parshley, 2016
Rendition of the FYST telescope
Credit: Vertex Antennentechnik GmbH
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS AND GOALS
Aperture: 6 meter diameter
Wavelength: 200 – 3,100 µm
Field of view: ~7.8° at λ=3.1 mm
Half wavefront error: ≤ 10.7 µm rms with a goal of < 7 µm rms
Blind pointing: ≤ 6.9" rms with a goal of < 4.6” rms
Offset pointing: ≤ 2.7" rms with a goal of 1.8” rms
Scan pointing knowledge: < 1.4" rms with a goal of <0.9"
Pointing stability: < 1.4" rms with a goal of <0.9" rms
Total blockage in optical path: < 1.5% with a goal of 0%
