Title:
GALACSI--The Ground Layer AO system for MUSE
Authors:
Remko Stuik, Roland Bacon, Ralf Conzelmann, Bernard
Delabre, Enrico Fedrigo, Norbert Hubin, Miska Le Louarn, Stefan Stroebele
Abstract:
MUSE, the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, is an
AO assisted Integral Field Spectrograph, currently in the Preliminary
Design Phase as a second generation instrument for the VLT. MUSE will
feature two modes, each with an associated AO mode. The first mode is
the Wide Field Mode, mainly aiming at the study of high redshift galaxies.
For this mode, the AO system has to deliver an improvement of at least a
factor of two over the full 1x1 arcminute Field of View. The second mode,
the Narrow Field mode, aims at the
high-resolution spectroscopy of nearby extended objects, for example
galaxies and globular clusters. For this mode the AO system will have to
deliver near-diffraction limited performance over a small field of view.
In this paper we discuss the trade-offs in the current design of
GALACSI--the
MUSE AO system--and illustrate with a number of simulations the expected
performance in the Wide- and Narrow Field Modes.