A Rotating Aperture Mask for Small Telescopes

<p>Observing the dynamic interaction between stars and their close stellar neighbors is key to establishing the stars’ orbits, masses, and other properties. Our ability to visually discriminate nearby stars is limited by the power of our telescopes, posing a challenge to astronomers at small observatories that contribute to binary star surveys. Masks placed at the telescope aperture promise to augment the resolving power of telescopes of all sizes, but many of these masks must be manually and repetitively reoriented about the optical axis to achieve their full benefits. This paper introduces a design concept for a mask rotation mechanism that can be adapted to telescopes of different types and proportions, focusing on an implementation for a Celestron C11 Schmidt–Cassegrain optical tube assembly. Mask concepts were first evaluated using diffraction simulation programs, later manufactured, and finally tested on close double stars using a C11. An electronic rotation mechanism was designed, produced, and evaluated. Results show that applying a properly shaped and oriented mask to a C11 enhances contrast in images of double star systems relative to images captured with the unmasked telescope, and they show that the rotation mechanism accurately and repeatably places masks at target orientations with minimal manual effort. Detail drawings of the mask rotation mechanism and code for the software interface are included.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MS in Mechanical Engineering

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Year dc:date.available

2019

Author dc:creator

• Foley, Edward L

Contributors dc:contributor

• John Ridgely
• Mechanical Engineering
• College of Engineering

• diffraction
• resolution
• contrast
• optics
• binary
• star
• Electro-Mechanical Systems
• Instrumentation
• Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy

Identifier

10.15368/theses.2019.119

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-3546