AAS 201st Meeting, January, 2003
Session 92. The SNAP Observatory
Poster, Wednesday, January 8, 2003, 9:20am-6:30pm, Exhibit Hall AB

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[92.01] The SNAP Telescope

M. Lampton (Space Sciences Lab, U.C.Berkeley), SNAP Collaboration

The SuperNova/Acceleration Probe (SNAP) mission will require a two-meter class telescope delivering diffraction limited images of a one square degree field throughout the 0.35 to 1.7 micron waveband. This requirement, equivalent to a billion pixel resolution, places unprecedented demands on its optical system in terms of field flatness, image quality, and freedom from chromatic aberration. We discuss the advantages of annular-field three-mirror anastigmat (TMA) telescopes for applications such as SNAP, and describe how the features of our specific optical configuration meet the requirements of the SNAP mission with regard to passive detector cooling, stray light, and manufacturability. Then we present detailed ray trace calculations and a wavefront error budget that show predicted point spread functions for our baseline optical design. Finally we discuss the materials, manufacturing processes and tolerances that are presently being considered for the fabrication, test, and on-orbit operation of the SNAP Optical Telescope Assembly.

This work has been supported by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Science, under contract DE-AC03-76SF00098.


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