  The PolyOculus technology produces large-area-equivalent telescopes by using
fiber optics to link modules of multiple semi-autonomous, small, inexpensive,
commercial-off-the-shelf telescopes. Crucially, this scalable design has
construction costs which are > 10x lower than equivalent traditional large-area
telescopes. We have developed a novel photonic lantern approach for the
PolyOculus fiber optic linkages which potentially offers substantial advantages
over previously considered free-space optical linkages, including much higher
coupling efficiencies. We have carried out the first laboratory tests of a
photonic lantern prototype developed for PolyOculus, and demonstrate broadband
efficiencies of ~91%, confirming the outstanding performance of this
technology.
