Two-mirror, three-reflection telescopes as candidates for sky surveys in ground and space applications. The MINITRUST: an active optics warping telescope for wide-field astronomy

A concept based on a two-mirror, three-reflection telescope has been investigated. Its anastigmatism and flat fielded properties, the compactness and optical performances over 2-2.5 arc deg field of view, make this optical system of high interest for the development of much larger telescopes than with Schmidt designs. The 2MTRT concept is a potential candidate for sky surveys with 2-3 meter class telescopes and particularily well adapted for UV space surveys. Preliminary developments have been carried out with the construction of a 30-cm prototype on Amoretti's design, providing encouraging results. At present, a 45-cm 2MTRT prototype has been realized for ground based sky survey of NEOs, based on active optics (MINITRUST), in order to overcome the difficulty of obtaining three aspherical surfaces. The primary and tertiary lie on the same double vase substrate, and have a rest profile. The hyperbolization is carried out in situ by air depressure. The secondary, in a tulip form substrate, has been hyperbolized by elastic relaxation. The project is planned for operation in 2003.