Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

Ray-tracing for coordinate knowledge in the JWST Integrated Science Instrument Module

Open Access Open Access

Abstract

Optical alignment and testing of the Integrated Science Instrument Module of the James Webb Space Telescope is underway. We describe the Optical Telescope Element Simulator used to feed the science instruments with point images of precisely known location and chief ray pointing, at appropriate wavelengths and flux levels, in vacuum and at operating temperature. The simulator’s capabilities include a number of devices for in situ monitoring of source flux, wavefront error, pupil illumination, image position and chief ray angle. Taken together, these functions become a fascinating example of how the first order properties and constructs of an optical design (coordinate systems, image surface and pupil location) acquire measurable meaning in a real system. We illustrate these functions with experimental data, and describe the ray tracing system used to provide both pointing control during operation and analysis support subsequently. Prescription management takes the form of optimization and fitting, an inverse problem which invokes comparisons to the optical design process. Our core tools employ a matrix/vector ray tracing model which proves broadly useful to in optical engineering problems. We spell out its mathematical basis and illustrate its use in ray mechanics and ray tracing plane mirror systems such as a corner cube.

© 2014 Optical Society of America

PDF Article
More Like This
Wavefront Sensing and Control for JWST

D. Scott Acton
FMF4 Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2008

JWST Integrated System Model

J. Scott Knight, D. Scott Acton, and Paul Lightsey
FWV2 Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2010

Commissioning and Optical Control for JWST

Scott Acton
FThK1 Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2011

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved