DAG Telescope First Light Commissioning Status

DAG, the 4-meter VIS/NIR telescope and the observatory, reached foreseen first light status at last: the enclosure acceptance is completed; to finalize the opto-mechanical alignment and pointing/tracking, the telescope mirrors have been exposed to heavens in absence of instrumentation. On the optical train; the two instruments that make the telescope distinctive, namely KORAY (the optical derotator) and flexible concept TROIA (ExAO) systems are characterized at the laboratory, and are anxiously waiting to be installed at their blessed location of mission - the diffraction limited Nasmyth platform along with the PLACID stellar coronagraph and DIRAC (NIR camera). We felt that PLACID, which is not yet lead star got jealous; so with the funding provided by the RACE-GO (ERC Project), within just after 60 days of its first mission, it will undergo for a technical makeover to a K-Band instrument. We now have a dilemma, the vacant seeing Nasmyth platform - the landlord- is still waiting for a cutting-edge tenant. Thus, the paper not only presents the telescope and its instrumentation, but also reserves a dedicated section for possible co-operations/collaborations to take place on the seeing Nasmyth platform.

Journal

GROUND-BASED AND AIRBORNE TELESCOPES X

Year

2024

Volume

13094

ISSN

0277-786X

eISSN

1996-756X

DOI

10.1117/12.3030690

WoS UID

WOS:001327600100049