DFM Completes Installation of three 1.3m Telescopes for TAOS II

Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Harvard Smithsonian CFA, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) contracted DFM Engineering to build three (3) 1.3-M aperture F/4 wide field optical telescopes for their Transneptunian Automated Occultation Survey  (TAOS II) project.  The telescopes are located at the Observatorio de San Pedro Mártir in Baja California, Mexico, approximately 100 miles South and 60 miles east of Ensenada, Mexico at an altitude of 9,000 ft.

The three TAOS II telescopes are nearly identical to the US Naval Observatory 1.3-m telescope. These telescopes have an aperture of 1.3 meters. The field of view is a stunning 1.7 degrees while the focal ratio is a very fast F/4. 

The system uses only primary and secondary mirrors producing a flat field with a small fourth order (Schmidt plate) corrector that removes the astigmatism. The mirrors form a modified Ritchey Chrétien system but are significantly more aspheric - especially the secondary mirror. The Schmidt plate corrector is made using the vacuum technique invented by Bernard Schmidt. The optical design is more fully described in our article about the US Naval Observatory 1.3-m telescope.

Quality optics remain one of the most, if not the most critical component of a research grade telescope.  Dr. Frank Melsheimer's article on “Ritchey-Chrétien Telescope Optics” offers a complete study of the quest for perfect optics as well as a discussion on field correctors.

DFM's custom TCSGalil™ provides a user-friendly interface to the telescope.  This telescope control system is located in the observatory control room and provides remote observing capabilities as well as a GPS receiver for precise time acquisition.

The mount features an open structure optical tube assembly that affords better seeing.  Tracking accuracy is better than +/- 0.5 arc seconds in 5 minutes and +/- 3 arc seconds in 1 hour with tracking rates to 3 deg./sec.  The telescope mount offers up to 200kg instrument load with a center of gravity 36 cm behind the mounting surface.

Details on the TAOS telescope installation
Details on the TAOS observatory installation