Proposed 12-m submillimeter antenna design for the Large Southern Array

Torben Andersen; Franz Koch; Peter Shaver

doi:10.1117/12.317410

31 July 1998 Proposed 12-m submillimeter antenna design for the Large Southern Array

Torben Andersen, Franz Koch, Peter Shaver

Proceedings Volume 3357, Advanced Technology MMW, Radio, and Terahertz Telescopes; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317410
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 1998, Kona, HI, United States

Abstract

The planned Large Southern Array will have 50 - 100 radio antennas with apertures in the range 8 - 15 m. They will be placed in Northern Chile. To provide a basis for choice of the optical telescope aperture, a feasibility study of a 12 m submillimeter unit antenna has been carried out at European Southern Observatory. The antenna has a steel structure below, combined with a dish of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. The reflecting panels are precision machined from an aluminum alloy. The most difficult specification is related to pointing stability. The specification is 0.66'. Representative calculations have shown that wind disturbances will cause pointing errors below 0.4' rms. A specification of 25 micrometer rms for the surface precision can be fulfilled. To provide a larger safety margin, or alternatively a larger dish, it is attractive to develop a simple active optics system to correct for pointing errors caused by deflections in the steel structure below the elevation axis for frequencies up to 10 - 15 Hz.

Citation Download Citation

Torben Andersen, Franz Koch, and Peter Shaver "Proposed 12-m submillimeter antenna design for the Large Southern Array", Proc. SPIE 3357, Advanced Technology MMW, Radio, and Terahertz Telescopes, (31 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317410

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