Mr. Michael J. Lefebvre Profile

Michael J. Lefebvre

Senior Adaptive Optics Specialist

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Author

Publications (11)

Proceedings Article | 3 September 2024 Presentation + Paper

Emerging adaptive optics facility at Large Binocular Telescope Observatory

Sam Ragland, Guido Brusa, Alessandro Cavallaro, Heejoo Choi, Juan Carlos Guerra, Tom Herbst, Michael Lefebvre, Douglas Miller, Fernando Pedichini, Jennifer Power, Joseph Shields, Mark Smithwright, Gregory Taylor, Christian Veillet, Xianyu Zhang, Roberto Biasi, Al Conrad, Laird Close, Simone Esposito, Daniele Gallieni, Elena Masciadri, Brandon Mechtley, Eliad Peretz, Enrico Pinna, Roberto Ragazzoni, Fabio Rossi, Guido Agapito, Matthieu Bec, Maria Bergomi, Thomas Bertram, Florian Briegel, Jacopo Farinato, John Hill, Daewook Kim, Luca Marafatto, Roberto Piazzesi, Kalyan Radhakrishnan, Armando Riccardi

Proceedings Volume 13097, 130970L (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019441

KEYWORDS: Adaptive optics, Telescopes, Wavefront sensors, Equipment, Actuators, Observatories, Cameras, Wavefronts, Stars, Metrology

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The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) Observatory pioneered Adaptive Optics (AO) technologies such as Adaptive Secondary Mirror (ASM), Pyramid wavefront sensor, and Ground-layer AO using Rayleigh lasers at 8 to 10m class telescopes. We have initiated an effort to turn LBT AO into a facility-class capability. The effort involves (1) building an AO team with AO development capability, (2) improving the robustness of the AO, (3) developing in-house AO expertise to maintain and troubleshoot the AO systems, (4) automating processes for efficient on-sky operation, (5) tracking performance metrics and cultivating accountability for on-sky AO performance, and (6) minimizing the operational risks for the ASMs. We present the status of these developments. LBTO continues its efforts to develop innovative technology. We explore the next phase of AO developments, including Agile Extreme Adaptive Optics (AgXAO) on the DX side of the LINC-NIRVANA optical bench to overcome the limitation imposed by varying and large atmospheric seeing at Mount Graham. AgXAO implementation includes the development of (1) a high-order, high-sensitivity wavefront sensor, (2) a high-density deformable mirror with 3000 actuators and next-generation ASM with about 950 actuators, (3) active optics integration, (4) vibration and wavefront piston control, (5) atmospheric turbulence measurements and weather forecast integration, and (6) a visible camera and an AO-corrected narrow-field fiber-coupled IFU spectrograph using one of the existing workhorse visible spectrographs. Developing AgXAO on the SX side, too, would enable Fizeau imaging in the visible wavelengths. AgXAO will also serve as a general-purpose high-contrast (and subsequently a Fizeau imaging) Testbed on LBT to test advanced wavefront control algorithms, including astrophotonics experiments, and machine learning algorithms with minimal impact on routine science operations. We propose developing AgXAO through student projects to train the next-generation scientists and engineers for the extremely large telescope (ELT) era. The ultimate goal is to push large aperture ground-based telescopes to their performance limits and make them competitive with space telescopes in terms of PSF stability and performance to enable breakthrough science.

Proceedings Article | 27 August 2024 Presentation + Paper

Adaptive secondary mirrors at the Large Binocular Telescope recent updates

G. Brusa, X. Zhang, M. Lefebvre, M. Tintori, M. Smithwright, J. Guerra, D. Miller, G. Taylor, S. Ragland

Proceedings Volume 13097, 130972M (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3020323

KEYWORDS: Actuators, Telescopes, Adaptive optics, Adaptive mirrors, Optical surfaces, Wavefront errors, Control systems, Safety, Design, Wind speed

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Proceedings Article | 13 December 2020 Poster + Paper

Adaptive secondary mirrors upgrades at the Large Binocular Telescope

Guido Brusa, Xianyu Zhang, Michael Lefebvre, Julian Christou, Albert Conrad, Roberto Biasi, Mario Andrighettoni, Martin Glück, Moritz Straub, Jörg-Uwe Pott

Proceedings Volume 11448, 114485T (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2563092

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Mirrors, Interferometers, Control systems, Electronics, Adaptive optics, Cameras, New and emerging technologies, Reliability, Signal attenuation

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Proceedings Article | 10 July 2018 Paper

Airplanes and satellites: how to keep LGS operations efficient and safe at the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory

Gustavo Rahmer, Michael Lefebvre, Julian Christou

Proceedings Volume 10704, 107042P (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2314105

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Satellites, Observatories, Antennas, Space telescopes, Signal detection, Mirrors, Laser safety, Laser beam propagation, Adaptive optics

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Proceedings Article | 27 July 2016 Paper

First on-sky results with ARGOS at LBT

G. Orban de Xivry, S. Rabien, L. Busoni, W. Gaessler, M. Bonaglia, J. Borelli, M. Deysenroth, S. Esposito, H. Gemperlein, M. Kulas, M. Lefebvre, T. Mazzoni, D. Peter, A. Puglisi, W. Raab, G. Rahmer, A. Sivitilli, J. Storm, J. Ziegleder

Proceedings Volume 9909, 990936 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2240094

KEYWORDS: Adaptive optics, Telescopes, Astronomical imaging, Point spread functions, Mirrors, Stars, Sensors, Wavefront sensors, Electroluminescent displays, Space telescopes

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Proceedings Article | 27 July 2016 Paper

Adaptive optics operations at the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory

Douglas Miller, Gregory Taylor, Julian Christou, Xianyu Zhang, Guido Brusa Zappellini, Gustavo Rahmer, Michael Lefebvre, Alfio Puglisi, Enrico Pinna, Simone Esposito

Proceedings Volume 9909, 99092G (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2234324

KEYWORDS: Adaptive optics, Telescopes, Observatories, Stars, Mirrors, Actuators, Monochromatic aberrations, Calibration, Sensors, Active optics

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Proceedings Article | 26 July 2016 Paper

Engineering aspects of the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory adaptive optics systems

Guido Brusa, Dave Ashby, Julian Christou, Jonathan Kern, Michael Lefebvre, Tom McMahon, Douglas Miller, Gustavo Rahmer, Richard Sosa, Gregory Taylor, Conrad Vogel, Xianyu Zhang

Proceedings Volume 9909, 990903 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2234733

KEYWORDS: Adaptive optics, Telescopes, Sensors, Mirrors, Calibration, Control systems, Actuators, Coating, Observatories, Interferometers

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Proceedings Article | 15 July 2016 Paper

Aircraft avoidance for laser propagation at the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory: life under a busy airspace

Gustavo Rahmer, Michael Lefebvre, Julian Christou

Proceedings Volume 9910, 99102G (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231909

KEYWORDS: Transmission electron microscopy, Spherical lenses, Visibility, Wave propagation, Interferometry, Antennas, Physics, Sensors, Beam propagation method, Polarization

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Proceedings Article | 6 August 2014 Paper

Early laser operations at the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory

Gustavo Rahmer, Michael Lefebvre, Julian Christou, Walfried Raab, Sebastian Rabien, Julian Ziegleder, José Borelli, Wolfgang Gässler

Proceedings Volume 9149, 91492A (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056774

KEYWORDS: Telescopes, Laser safety, Space telescopes, Observatories, Laser systems engineering, Safety, Space operations, Satellites, Mirrors, Visualization

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Proceedings Article | 4 August 2014 Paper

Living with adaptive secondary mirrors 365/7/24

Julian Christou, Guido Brusa , Juan Carlos Guerra , Michael Lefebvre, Douglas Miller, Gustavo Rahmer, Richard Sosa, Michael Wagner

Proceedings Volume 9148, 91480F (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056361

KEYWORDS: Actuators, Telescopes, Adaptive optics, Mirrors, Contamination, Digital signal processing, Wavefront sensors, Electronics, Wavefronts, Sensors

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Proceedings Article | 21 July 2014 Paper

Status of the ARGOS project

Sebastian Rabien, Lothar Barl, Udo Beckmann, Marco Bonaglia, José Luis Borelli, Joar Brynnel, Peter Buschkamp, Lorenzo Busoni, Julian Christou, Claus Connot, Richard Davies, Matthias Deysenroth, Simone Esposito, Wolfgang Gässler, Hans Gemperlein, Michael Hart, Martin Kulas, Michael Lefebvre, Michael Lehmitz, Tommaso Mazzoni, Edmund Nussbaum, Gilles Orban de Xivry, Diethard Peter, Andreas Quirrenbach, Walfried Raab, Gustavo Rahmer, Jesper Storm, Julian Ziegleder

Proceedings Volume 9148, 91481B (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055932

KEYWORDS: Wavefront sensors, Sensors, Telescopes, Laser guide stars, Mirrors, Adaptive optics, Calibration, Stars, Laser systems engineering, Imaging spectroscopy

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Showing 5 of 11 publications

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