Generic Misalignment Aberration Patterns in Wide-Field Telescopes

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how small misalignments in wide-field telescopes produce specific aberration patterns, and discusses methods for measuring and correcting these to maintain optimal alignment.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive framework for understanding and measuring misalignment aberration patterns, including third- and fifth-order patterns, in wide-field telescopes.

Findings

Misalignment patterns are characterized by two-dimensional vectors.

Measuring certain patterns can help maintain telescope alignment.

Fifth-order patterns are less sensitive to misalignments.

Abstract

Axially symmetric telescopes produce well known "Seidel" off-axis third-order aberration patterns: coma, astigmatism, curvature of field and distortion. When axial symmetry is broken by the small misalignments of optical elements, additional third-order aberration patterns arise: one each for coma, astigmatism and curvature of field and two for distortion. Each of these misalignment patterns is characterized by an associated two-dimensional vector, each of which in turn is a linear combination of the tilt and decenter vectors of the individual optical elements. For an N-mirror telescope, 2(N-1) patterns must be measured to keep the telescope aligned. Alignment of the focal plane may require two additional patterns. For N = 3, as in a three mirror anastigmat, there is a two-dimensional "subspace of benign misalignment" over which the misalignment patterns for third-order coma, astigmatism and curvature of field are identically zero. One would need to measure at least one of the two distortion patterns to keep the telescope aligned. Alternatively, one might measure one of the fifth-order misalignment patterns, which are derived herein. But the fifth-order patterns are rather insensitive to misalignments, even with moderately wide fields, rendering them of relatively little use in telescope alignment. Another alternative would be to use telescope pointing as part of the alignment solution.