Low wind effect on VLT/SPHERE: Impact, mitigation strategy, and results

J. Milli*, M. Kasper, P. Bourget, C. Pannetier, D. Mouillet, J. F. Sauvage, C. Reyes, T. Fusco, F. Cantalloube, K. Tristam, Z. Wahhaj, J. L. Beuzit, J. H. Girard, D. Mawet, A. Telle, A. Vigan, M. N'Diaye

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

54 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The low wind effect is a phenomenon disturbing the phase of the wavefront in the pupil of a large telescope obstructed by spiders, in the absence of wind. It can be explained by the radiative cooling of the spiders, creating air temperature inhomogeneities across the pupil. Because it is unseen by traditional adaptive optics (AO) systems, thus uncorrected, it significantly degrades the quality of AO-corrected images. We provide a statistical analysis of the strength of this effect as seen by VLT/SPHERE after 4 years of operations. We analyse its dependence upon the wind and temperature conditions. We describe the mitigation strategy implemented in 2017: a specific coating with low thermal emissivity in the mid-infrared was applied on the spiders of Unit Telescope 3. We quantify the improvement in terms of image quality, contrast and wave front error using both focal plane images and measured phase maps.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdaptive Optics Systems VI
EditorsDirk Schmidt, Laura Schreiber, Laird M. Close
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Print)9781510619593
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Externally publishedYes
EventAdaptive Optics Systems VI 2018 - Austin, United States
Duration: 10 Jun 201815 Jun 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume10703
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Conference

ConferenceAdaptive Optics Systems VI 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAustin
Period10/06/1815/06/18

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