The SAURON project. I. The panoramic integral-field spectrograph
R. Bacon, Y. Copin, G. Monnet, Bryan W. Miller, J.R. Allington-Smith, M. Bureau, C. Marcella Carollo, Roger L. Davies, Eric Emsellem, Harald Kuntschner, Reynier F. Peletier, E.K. Verolme, P. Tim de Zeeuw
Abstract
A new integral-field spectrograph, SAURON, is described. It is based on the Tiger principle, and uses a lenslet array. SAURON has a large field of view and high throughput, and allows simultaneous sky subtraction. Its design is optimized for studies of the stellar kinematics, gas kinematics, and line-strength distributions of nearby early-type galaxies. The instrument design and specifications are described, as well as the extensive analysis software which was developed to obtain fully calibrated spectra, and the associated kinematic and line-strength measurements. A companion paper reports on the first results obtained with SAURON on the William Herschel Telescope.