Characteristic investigation of Golay9 multiple mirror telescope with a spherical primary mirror

摘要

The sparse aperture provides a novel solution to the manufacturing difficulties of modern super large telescopes. Golay configurations are optimal in the sparse aperture family. Characteristics of the Golay9 multiple mirror telescope having a spherical primary mirror are investigated. The arrangement of the nine sub-mirrors is discussed after the planar Golay9 configuration is analyzed. The characteristics of the entrance pupil are derived by analyzing the sub-aperture shapes with different relative apertures and sub-mirror sizes. Formulas about the fill factor and the overlay factor are deduced. Their maximal values are presented based on the derived tangency condition. Formulas for the point spread function (PSF) and the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the Golay9 MMT are also deduced. Two Golay9 MMT have been developed by Zemax simulation. Their PSF, MTF, fill factors, and overlay factors prove that our theoretical results are consistent with the practical simulation ones.