Open Access

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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