The LINC-NIRVANA Adaptive Optics System

Al Conrad, MPIA (Heidelberg)

LINC-NIRVANA (LN) is an imaging Fizeau interferometer, with wavelength coverage from 1.1 to 2.4
microns, planned to have first light on the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in 2014. Each arm of the LN
interferometer includes an adaptive optics (AO) system and each of these is a layer-oriented
multi-conjugate AO system (LO-MCAO) with a ground-layer subsystem (a 12-star pyramid wave front
sensor (WFS) operating in conjunction with the LBT adaptive secondary deformable mirror (DM) and a
mid-high subsystem (an 8-star pyramid WFS working in conjunction with a Xinetics 349 actuator DM).
In order to characterize the mid-high WFS and its DM, we have integrated that subsystem in a lab
experiment which simulates the conditions predicted for the LBT site.  In order to characterize the
ground-layer WFS and its DM, we are producing a standalone test bed to be operated at LBT well ahead
of the delivery of the full instrument. In this talk, we give an overview of LINC-NIRVANA and describe
the two test environments: a lab experiment in Heidelberg and a pathfinder on Mount Graham.