Performance of the 1.2m telescope with its updated primary mirror

Created 04/02/14 EF

We have verified that the new primary mirror M1 follows the optical prescription of its predecessor.

The image quality that M1 produces is clearly much better than its predecessor's. Currently, typical FWHMs are below 2.5 arcsec and down to about 1.4 arcsec, whereas typical FWHMs with the old mirror were 2.5-3 arcsec and higher.

Now that we have good imaging, we are able to investigate potential detrimental effects of thermal gradients in the mirror, and effects from the support system of M1 that prevent achievement of an optimal collimation. We are testing for these problems. We'll present updates here.

Testimonials follow; more will be added as we collect them.

From Wystan Benbow (1.2m project: Understanding Blazars)

For the same duration exposures on RGB J0710+591:
Last season: Average r Magnitude = 16.069; Average r-Mag error = 0.071
This season: Average r Magnitude = 15.989; Average r-Mag error = 0.041
So the magnitude didn't change (which isn't common), but the error decreased by nearly a factor of 2.
The plot shows the difference between a reference star (about r=13 mag) and the blazar (about r=16 mag).

From Allyson Bieryla (1.2m projects: Exoplanet Transit Light Curves)

I can say that the FWHM as viewed from the logs seems to be 2-3x better on average and the exposure time is about 10% shorter.

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