The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), a national big science project, has recently seen the complete installation of its 24 sub-mirrors for MA (correction mirror), and 37 sub-mirrors for MB (primary mirror) at the Xinglong Observing Station, the National Astronomic Observatories at CAS. Consisting of an MB (6.67m x 6.05m), and an MA (5.72m x 4.4m), the Schmidt telescope is able to observe the spectra of some 4000 celestial bodies over a 5-degree vision field, a system enjoying the largest vision field and highest spectrum acquisition rate in the world.
The entire system has three major components, namely MA, MB, and a focal plane. The Schmidt MA is made up of 24 sub-mirrors in 1.1m. This is the first instance in the world applying active optical and sub-mirror assemble techniques. The 24 sub-mirrors would create a high precision non-spherical reflection, correcting the possible errors in the primary mirror. The MB, or the primary mirror, is built with 37 sub-mirrors in 1.1m, also using active optical and sub-mirror assemble techniques, to maintain a common focus in the course of celestial bodies observation.
