DOCTORAL CANDIDATE
Rafael Salgueiro

SUPERVISORS
Dr. Benoit Neichel, Aix Marseille Université (AMU)
Dist. Prof. Jon Lawrence, Macquarie University (MQ)

Astronomy & Astrophysics, Instrumentation, Optics, Ground & Space-based Telescopes, Adaptive Optics, Wave-front Control

This research project falls within the realm of Adaptive Optics (AO) for ground-based telescopes, a field of study whose primary goal is to increase the angular resolution of astronomical images, which would otherwise be highly affected by atmospheric turbulence.

To increase sky coverage, laser guide stars (LGS) have been deployed for the last few years in existing 8–10-meter diameter telescopes, and different LGS-AO systems have been proposed, such as the Laser Tomographic Adaptive Optics (LTAO). This type of AO system allows for a very high sky coverage and, simultaneously, high angular resolution. These qualities make LTAO systems very promising and desirable to allow for unique astrophysical advances in the future. For example, the first light spectrograph of the future Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), called HARMONI, will make use of such an LTAO system, and many other already existing telescopes plan to deploy LTAO systems in the upcoming years.

In particular, my research will be oriented explicitly toward applying an LTAO system on the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, where I will contribute to the Gemini North Adaptive Optics (GNAO) project led by both Australian and French research teams.

However, some issues related to the implementation of such LTAO systems remain to be solved, and the main goal of my research is to propose innovative and alternative solutions to the key problems identified, such as LGS spot elongation and Tip/Tilt and focus measurements. In particular, I will study the contribution of super-resolved wavefront sensing and its practical application in the framework of LTAO.