Author:
Petrov R.G.,Aime C.,Borgnino J.,Martin F.,Ricort G.
Abstract
AbstractThe expected progress of diffraction limited imaging methods and the apparition of new super resolution techniques like differential speckle interferometry would justify the construction of a 15 m class telescope dedicated to diffraction limited observations in order to fulfil the potential of high angular resolution astrophysics of 15 m class instruments, but the construction of such a telescope is conceivable only if its cost is much smaller than the cost of the equivalent all purposes VLT. In this paper we suggest that a telescope with a long and thin rectangular primary ( 16 m X.4m say ) , able to rotate around the optical axis to ensure a full coverage of the frequency plane, would do almost as well than a conventional 16 m aperture telescope for high angular resolution astronomy for a cost substancially reduced. The performances of such a Large Slit Aperture Telescope ( LSAT ) for classical and differential speckle interferometry are examined and the releases on the optical and mechanical constraints allowed by the dedication of the instrument to speckle techniques are discussed.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)