Mark Ackermann, Sandia National Laboratoriess; Rex Kiziah, USAF Academy; John McGraw, J.T. McGraw & Associates; Peter Zimmer, J.T. McGraw & Associates
Keywords: Wide Field, Optical System, Lens, Mirror, Obscuration
Abstract:
Wide field-of-view optical systems are currently finding wide-spread use for applications ranging from exoplanet search to space situational awareness. Systems ranging from small camera lenses to the 8.4-meter LSST all seek to pull in large areas of the sky to increase search rate and scientific utility. An interesting issue with wide-field systems is that they are not known for high aperture efficiency. They either use only a fraction of the available aperture or have optical elements with diameters larger than the optical aperture of the system. In either case, the complete aperture of the largest optical component is not fully utilized for any given field point within an image. As system costs are driven by aperture, focal length, optical complexity and field of view, it is important to understand the optical design trade space and how cost, performance and physical characteristics are influenced by various observing requirements. This paper examines the aperture efficiency of lens systems and reflecting systems with one, two and three mirrors.
Date of Conference: September 11-14, 2018
Track: Optical Systems Instrumentation