On the way to the Extremely Large Telescopes (ELT) the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) is an intermediate step. The two 8.4m mirrors create a masked aperture of 23m. LINC-NIRVANA is an instrument taking advantage of this opportunity. It will get, by means of Multi-Conjugated Adaptive Optics (MCAO), a moderate Strehl Ratio over a 2 arcmin field of view, which is used for Fizeau (imaging) interferometry in J,H and K. Several MCAO concepts, which are proposed for ELTs, will be proven with this instrument. Studies of sub-systems are done in the laboratory and the option to test them on sky are kept open. We will show the implementation of the MCAO concepts and control aspects of the instrument and present the road map to the final installation at LBT. Major milestones of LINC-NIRVANA, like preliminary design review or final design review are already done or in preparation. LINC-NIRVANA is one of the few MCAO instruments in the world which will see first light and go into operation within the next years.

Date Published: 25 October 2004
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 5490, Advancements in Adaptive Optics, (25 October 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.551908

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5490:
Advancements in Adaptive Optics
Domenico Bonaccini Calia; Brent L. Ellerbroek; Roberto Ragazzoni, Editor(s)