Visible light laser guidestar experimental system (Villages): on-sky tests of new technologies for visible wavelength all-sky coverage adaptive optics systems

Abstract

The Lick Observatory is pursuing new technologies for adaptive optics that will enable feasible low cost laser guidestar systems for visible wavelength astronomy. The Villages system, commissioned at the 40 inch Nickel Telescope this past Fall, serves as an on-sky testbed for new deformable mirror technology (high-actuator count MEMS devices), open-loop wavefront sensing and control, pyramid wavefront sensing, and laser uplink correction. We describe the goals of our experiments and present the early on-sky results of AO closed-loop and open-loop operation. We will also report on our plans for on-sky tests of the direct-phase measuring pyramid-lenslet wavefront sensor and plans for installing a laser guidestar system.