Adaptive Optics and Lucky Imager (AOLI): presentation and first light

TL;DR

AOLI combines Lucky Imaging and Adaptive Optics to achieve high spatial resolution on ground telescopes, enabling observations with faint reference stars and demonstrating first light with promising results.

Contribution

This paper introduces AOLI, a novel instrument integrating LI and AO with a revolutionary wavefront sensor, expanding high-resolution ground-based imaging capabilities.

Findings

Achieved a FWHM of 0.151 arcsec in first light observations.

Demonstrated the ability to use faint reference stars (I~16.5-17.5).

Confirmed the gravitational binding of the LkHα 262-263 system.

Abstract

In this paper we present the Adaptive Optics Lucky Imager (AOLI), a state-of-the-art instrument which makes use of two well proved techniques for extremely high spatial resolution with ground-based telescopes: Lucky Imaging (LI) and Adaptive Optics (AO). AOLI comprises an AO system, including a low order non-linear curvature wavefront sensor together with a 241 actuators deformable mirror, a science array of four 1024x1024 EMCCDs, allowing a 120x120 down to 36x36 arcseconds field of view, a calibration subsystem and a powerful LI software. Thanks to the revolutionary WFS, AOLI shall have the capability of using faint reference stars ({\it I\/} $\sim$ 16.5-17.5), enabling it to be used over a much wider part of the sky than with common Shack-Hartmann AO systems. This instrument saw first light in September 2013 at William Herschel Telescope. Although the instrument was not complete, these commissioning demonstrated its feasibility, obtaining a FWHM for the best PSF of 0.151$\pm$0.005 arcsec and a plate scale of 55.0$\pm$0.3 mas/pixel. Those observations served us to prove some characteristics of the interesting multiple T Tauri system LkH$\alpha$ 262-263, finding it to be gravitationally bounded. This interesting multiple system mixes the presence of proto-planetary discs, one proved to be double, and the first-time optically resolved pair LkH$\alpha$ 263AB (0.42 arcsec separation).