Together with ESO, the W. M. Keck Observatory was involved in the development of the SodiumStar 20/2, providing additional specifications. Thus, in parallel to the deliveries to ESO, already in 2014 we also installed our first laser on the Big Island of Hawaii, where the Keck Observatory is one of many located on the 4200 m summit of Maunakea. There, Keck operates two scientifically extremely productive 10-meter optical/infrared telescopes and has been pioneering adaptive optics technologies for years. Our laser represents the third generation of lasers used at Keck and replaces the dye laser at Keck II telescope. A special feature of the Keck laser compared to the ESO one is the remote pumping architecture of the fiber laser, which allows to spatially separate the electronics cabinet (main heat sources) and the laser head by up to 30 m. This enables Keck to place the electronics cabinet on a gravity-invariant Nasmyth sub-platform and keep vibrations and heat sources further away from the telescope. Apart from the laser itself, the Keck team has upgraded the original side-launch system to a center launch system, where the laser beam is launched from behind the M2 mirror of the telescope. The new facility allows the addition of two more lasers to support future AO upgrades. Although the installation took place at Keck headquarters in Waimea and we paid the summit only a short visit, travelling to Hawaii and working with the great team at Keck was wonderful experience. Special thanks to Jason Chin, Ed Wetherell, Sylvain Cetre and Kevin Tsubota. Looking forward to more trips to come, as the Keck II laser is only the first of hopefully many SodiumStars on Maunakea.
Credit: Andrew Richard Hara, www.andrewhara.com
