Lightweight off-axis 8m class telescope: a case study to ELT approximation

摘要

Two main trends presently prevail in ELT design: arrays of hundreds of small (1-2m) hexagonal mirrors and the use of several large (～8m) monolithic mirrors. We present a conceptual study of an off axis 8m telescope with different mirror options, which can be useful as an experiment towards the design of large multi-mirror telescopes, in terms of different mirror materials, ideas for the optics and new solutions for the telescope mechanical assembly.