Found 21 talks width keyword Grantecan, GTC

Little is known about the mid-infrared (MIR) polarization at high-angular resolution of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), however, the polarimetric mode of CanariCam on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS has opened a new window to reveal its core. We have found a variety of results: 1) A Highly polarized synchrotron emission in the core of Cygnus A; 2) a very complex MIR polarization structures in and around the core of NGC 1068; and 3) a very low polarized core of Mrk 231. In this talk, I will present new CanariCam polarimetric results on several AGN which provide key information on our understanding of the AGN structure and jet formation.

In the past years, intensive Site Characterization campaigns have been performed to chose the sites for the future giant ELTs. Various atmospheric turbulence profilers with different resolution and sensed altitude ranges have been used, as well as climatological tools and satellite data analysis. Mixing long term statistics at low altitude resolution with high resolution data collected during short term campaigns allows to produce the reference profiles as input to the Adaptive Optics (AO) instrument performance estimators. In this talk I will perform a brief review of the principal and most used instruments and tools in order to give to the audience a panorama of the work and the efforts to monitor the atmospheric turbulence for astronomical purposes.

Adaptive optics systems rely on a real-time control system which is responsible for receiving wavefront sensor information and computing and applying the necessary correction to the deformable mirrors. Historically, real-time control systems have relied on customised hardware comprised of multiple FPGA and DSP systems, which high complexity. More recently it has been demonstrated that conventional PCs are now sufficiently powerful to to perform this task. In this talk, I will present an open-source real-time control system, DARC, discuss its implementation on the CANARY AO system at the William Herschel Telescope, and cover the algorithms available. Extension to ELT-scale operation will be discussed, including hardware and detector considerations. The internal architecture of this modular system will be presented, with a case being made for its suitability for implementation on any AO system type, on any telescope.

The success of the next generation of instruments for 8 to 40-m class telescopes will depend on the ability of Adaptive Optics (AO) systems to provide excellent image quality and stability. This will be achieved by increasing the sampling, wavelength range and correction quality of the wave front error in both spatial and time domains. The modern generation of AO wavefront sensor detectors started in the late nineties with the development of the CCD50 detector by e2v under ESO contract for the ESO NAOS AO system. With a 128x128 pixels format, this 8 outputs CCD runs at a 500 Hz frame rate with a readout noise of 7e-. A major breakthrough has been achieved with the recent development of the CCD220, also by e2v technologies. This 240x240 pixels 8 outputs EMCCD (CCD with internal multiplication) has been jointly funded by ESO and Europe under the FP6 programme. The CCD220 detector and the OCAM2 camera are now the most sensitive system in the world for advanced adaptive optics systems, offering an astonishing <0.2 e readout noise at a frame rate of 1500 Hz with negligible dark current. Extremely easy to operate, OCAM2 only needs a 24 V power supply and a modest water cooling circuit. This system will be extensively described in this talk. An upgrade of OCAM2 is foreseen to boost its frame rate to 2500 Hz, opening the window of XAO wavefront sensing for the ELT. Since this major success, new developments started in Europe. One is fully dedicated to Laser Guide Star AO for the ELT with an ESO involvment. The spot elongation from a LGS SH wavefront sensor induces an increase of the pixel format. Two detectors are currently developed by e2v. The NGSD will be a 672x672 pixels CMOS detector with a readout noise of 4e (goal 1e) at 700 Hz frame rate. The LGSD is a scaling of the NGSD with 1680x1680 pixels and 3 e readout noise (goal 1e) at 700 Hz frame rate. New technologies will be developed for that purpose: new CMOS pixel architecture, CMOS back thinned and back illuminated device, full digital outputs. In addition, the CMOS technology is extremely robust in a telescope environment. Both detectors will be used on the ELT, depending on the AO system considered. Additional developments also started for wavefront sensing in the infrared based on new breakthrough using ultra low noise Avalanche Photodiode (APD) arrays within the RAPID project. The latter should offer a 320x240 8 outputs 30 microns IR array, sensitive from 0.4 to 3.2 microns, with 2 e readout noise at 1500 Hz frame rate. First results of this project will be showed.

The standard scientific operations of the instrument OSIRIS will start at the GTC by mid March. The first tests of the instrument once mounted on the telescope are now finished and during this talk we will show the results of the instrument characterization and final performance. We will present the plans for the future commissioning of the remaining observing modes as well as the next implementations expected for OSIRIS.

This talk presents the current status of the commissioning of the GTC. It covers the progress made since first light, the current performance and then looks ahead to what is expected between now and the start of science operations in March.