Using image symmetries to uniquely align aspheric mirrors to a focus and axis

The Point Source Microscope (PSM) is used to find five aberrations related to the symmetries of the autostigmatic image viewed when aligning aspheric mirrors to a point along an axis. These five aberrations exactly match in number the five degrees of mechanical freedom required to align the mirror to an axis and thus provide an exact solution to a unique focus and alignment to an axis. We show how the PSM is used to capture and analyze a set of images as the PSM is moved through focus using the symmetry properties of the image.