Improving the Blanco Telescope's delivered image quality

Timothy M. C. Abbott; Andrés Montane; Roberto Tighe; Alistair R. Walker; Brooke Gregory; R. Christopher Smith; Alfonso Cisternas

doi:10.1117/12.857389

5 August 2010 Improving the Blanco Telescope's delivered image quality

Timothy M. C. Abbott, Andrés Montane, Roberto Tighe, Alistair R. Walker, Brooke Gregory, R. Christopher Smith, Alfonso Cisternas

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7733, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes III; 773345 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857389
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The V. M. Blanco 4-m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is undergoing a number of improvements in preparation for the delivery of the Dark Energy Camera. The program includes upgrades having potential to deliver gains in image quality and stability. To this end, we have renovated the support structure of the primary mirror, incorporating innovations to improve both the radial support performance and the registration of the mirror and telescope top end. The resulting opto-mechanical condition of the telescope is described. We also describe some improvements to the environmental control. Upgrades to the telescope control system and measurements of the dome environment are described in separate papers in this conference.

Citation Download Citation

Timothy M. C. Abbott, Andrés Montane, Roberto Tighe, Alistair R. Walker, Brooke Gregory, R. Christopher Smith, and Alfonso Cisternas "Improving the Blanco Telescope's delivered image quality", Proc. SPIE 7733, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes III, 773345 (5 August 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857389

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