Sizing of a Raven-class telescope using performance sensitivities

摘要

This work details the sizing and selection of components for a Raven-class telescope to be constructed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and makes four main contributions. The first is the development of a novel performance metric that quantifies the accuracy of initial orbit estimates generated by the Raven. The second is the derivation of a limiting magnitude metric utilized to bound the detection capability of the Raven. The third is the computation of local sensitivity relationships, which identify the variables that have the greatest impact on Raven system performance metrics. The derived sensitivities can be used to assist the designer in evaluating performance tradeoffs and quantify the amount of improvement in system performance per unit cost. Finally, Raven system performance metrics are used to construct several Pareto frontiers for Ravens operating in different optical environments. The most important insight provided by these Pareto frontiers is that Raven-class telescopes located in optically noisy environments, such as Atlanta, should be designed to maximize the accuracy of initial orbit estimates rather than maximizing detection limit performance. These plots also highlight the diminishing return of increasingly large aperture diameters, demonstrating the value of the Raven design paradigm.