At a distance of ∼2 pc, our nearest brown dwarf neighbor, Luhman 16 AB, has been extensively studied since its discovery 3 years ago, yet its most fundamental parameter-the masses of the individual ...dwarfs-has not been constrained with precision. In this work, we present the full astrometric orbit and barycentric motion of Luhman 16 AB and the first precision measurements of the individual component masses. We draw upon archival observations spanning 31 years from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Schmidt Telescope, the Deep Near-Infrared Survey of the Southern Sky (DENIS), public FORS2 data on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), and new astrometry from the Gemini South Multiconjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS). Finally, we include three radial velocity measurements of the two components from VLT/CRIRES, spanning one year. With this new data sampling a full period of the orbit, we use a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to fit a 16-parameter model incorporating mutual orbit and barycentric motion parameters and constrain the individual masses to be for the T dwarf and for the L dwarf. Our measurements of Luhman 16 AB's mass ratio and barycentric motion parameters are consistent with previous estimates in the literature utilizing recent astrometry only. The GeMS-derived measurements of the Luhman 16 AB separation in 2014-2015 agree closely with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) measurements made during the same epoch, and the derived mutual orbit agrees with those measurements to within the HST uncertainties of 0.3-0.4 mas.
Adaptive optics provides real time correction of wavefront disturbances on ground based telescopes. Optimizing control and performance is a key issue for ever more demanding instruments on ever ...larger telescopes affected not only by atmospheric turbulence, but also by vibrations, windshake and tracking errors. Linear Quadratic Gaussian control achieves optimal correction when provided with a temporal model of the disturbance. We present in this paper the first on-sky results of a Kalman filter based LQG control with vibration mitigation on the CANARY instrument at the Nasmyth platform of the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope. The results demonstrate a clear improvement of performance for full LQG compared with standard integrator control, and assess the additional improvement brought by vibration filtering with a tip-tilt model identified from on-sky data, thus validating the strategy retained on the instrument SPHERE at the VLT.
Abstract
Multi-conjugated adaptive optics (MCAO) yield nearly diffraction-limited images at 2 μm wavelengths. Currently, Gemini Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS)/Gemini South Adaptive ...Optics Imager (GSAOI) at Gemini South is the only MCAO facility instrument at an 8-m telescope. Using real data, and for the first time, we investigate the gain in depth and signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) when MCAO is employed for K
s-band observations of distant galaxies. Our analysis is based on the Frontier Fields
cluster MACS J0416.1−2403, observed with GeMS/GSAOI (near diffraction-limited) and compared against Very Large Telescope/HAWK-I (natural seeing) data. Using galaxy number counts, we show that the substantially increased thermal background and lower optical throughput of the MCAO unit are fully compensated for by the wavefront correction because the galaxy images can be measured in smaller apertures with less sky noise. We also performed a direct comparison of the S/N of sources detected in both data sets. For objects with intrinsic angular sizes corresponding to half the HAWK-I image seeing, the gain in S/N is 40 per cent. Even smaller objects experience a boost in S/N by up to a factor of 2.5 despite our suboptimal natural guide star configuration. The depth of the near diffraction limited images is more difficult to quantify than that of seeing limited images, due to a strong dependence on the intrinsic source profiles. Our results emphasize the importance of cooled MCAO systems for K
s-band observations with future, extremely large telescopes.
L'optique adaptative (OA), qui permet de corriger en temps-réel les déformations du front d'onde induites par la turbulence atmosphérique, connaît une limitation fondamentale : l'anisoplanétisme. ...Pour y remédier, le concept d'OA grand champ (OAGC) a été proposé. La turbulence est mesurée dans plusieurs directions du champ de vue à l'aide d'étoiles guide naturelles et laser, et son impact corrigé sur les images par une commande basée sur une reconstruction tomographique. L'approche linéaire quadratique gaussienne (LQG) est bien adaptée à la conception de lois de commande en OAGC comme en OA classique. Elle permet d'estimer et de prédire la phase à l'aide d'un filtre de Kalman basé sur des a priori spatiaux et temporels. Les modèles d'état et commandes associées sont détaillés. On présente la première mise en oeuvre sur le ciel d'une commande LQG sur tous les modes, en OA classique et multi-objet, à l'aide du démonstrateur CANARY. Ces résultats sont obtenus avec identification du modèle de tip-tilt et filtrage des vibrations, ce qui constitue la première mise en oeuvre ciel de cette stratégie. Les a priori spatiaux de la phase en volume sont identifiés par la méthode LEARN. Des données issues du profilomètre stereoSCIDAR ont aussi été utilisées. Des comparaisons sont proposées avec une commande intégrateur en OA classique, avec un gain significatif en performances pour le LQG. Les comparaisons avec le reconstructeur statique APPLY (moindres carrés régularisés) en OA multi-objet mettent en évidence un gain du LQG dans certains cas (fort bruit en particulier). L'ensemble des résultats confirme la faisabilité et l'intérêt d'une commande LQG pour un instrument d'OA ou d'OAGC.
Adaptive Optics (AO), which enables to correct in real time wavefront deformation induced by atmospheric turbulence, faces a fundamental limitation: anisoplanatism. To counter it, the concept of Wide-Field AO (WFAO) has been proposed. Turbulence is measured in several directions of the field of view, using natural and laser guide stars, and its impact on images is mitigated by a control based on tomographic reconstruction. The Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) approach is well-suited to AO control design in both WFAO and classical AO. LQG enables to estimate and predict the phase with a Kalman filter based on spatial and temporal priors. State-space models and associated controls are laid out. The first on-sky implementation of LQG control on all modes, in classical and multi-object AO, is presented on the CANARY pathfinder. These results have been obtained with identification of tip-tilt models and vibration filtering, which constitutes the first on-sky implementation of this strategy. Spatial priors on the phase in the volume are identified using the LEARN algorithm. Data from the stereoSCIDAR profilometer were also used. Comparisons are provided with integral AO control in standard AO, showing significant gain in performance with LQG. Comparisons with the static reconstructor APPLY (regularized least-squares) in multi-object AO show a gain in performance with LQG in some cases (especially in high-noise conditions). Results confirm feasibility and relevance of LQG control for AO or WFAO instruments.
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