LLNL optical engineers Justin Wolfe (left) and Simon Cohen are seen through the “r” filter. Frank Arredondo appears in the filter’s reflection. Photo by Garry McLeod.
(Download Image)Optical Components for World’s Newest Telescope
For much of the past decade, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have been designing major optical components for the world’s newest telescope, while their industrial partners have fabricated the components.
Now, with the September shipment of the last of six optical filters for the telescope’s camera to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, the Livermore researchers have finished their work.
It is anticipated that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory facility in northern Chile, with its Legacy Survey of Space and Time Camera (LSSTCam), will start imaging the southern sky in 2024.
“We’re all very excited,” said LLNL engineer Vincent Riot, who has been the Rubin LSSTCam manager for the past four years while working at Livermore and at SLAC on special assignment.
“The optical lenses and filters have been a long time in the making," he said. "This project has been under way for about 10 years. Now, we’ll soon see the integration of all of the camera’s components as part of the telescope’s commissioning.” Read more...
