Table 1
Key technical requirements and design solutions for AtLAST.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Wavelength (λ) range | 0.3–10 mm |
| Primary mirror diameter | 50 m |
| Field of view (FoV) | 2° (1°)(†) |
| Number of instruments | ≥5 |
| Effective focal length | ≈100 m |
| Number of mirrors | ≤4 |
| Number of segments | ≈400 |
| Sizes of segments | ≈5 m2 |
| Total collecting area | ≈2000 m2 |
| Optical surface accuracy | 20–30 µm |
| Surface coating | similar to ALMA |
| Optical design | Cassegrain-Nasmyth |
| Description of active optics | active surface + metrology |
| Actuator precision | ≈10 µm |
| Mechanical pointing accuracy (⋆) | 2.″5 |
| Scan speed | 3°s−1 |
| Acceleration | 1°s−2 |
| Elevation (EL) range | 20°–90° |
| Azimuthal (AZ) range | ±270° |
| Mount type | AZ-EL |
| Support structure material | Steel and invar |
Notes. (†)A diameter of 1° is the minimum requirement for the FoV at 850 µm, while at longer wavelengths (≥2 mm) the FoV diameter requirement is 2°. (★)Here we refer to the ability to point at and track a given astronomical position on the sky after slewing from another arbitrary position elsewhere on the sky. The pointing will be referenced to celestial coordinates, but this telescope pointing requirement does not, for instance, include the potential gains from the use of a sophisticated all-sky astronomical pointing model like those in use on other platforms. See discussions in Sects. 2.2.3 and 5.3.
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