Brian L. Vattiat

VIRUS: a massively replicated 33k fiber integral field spectrograph for the upgraded Hobby-Eberly Telescope

The Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS) consists of a baseline build of 150 identical spectrographs (arrayed as 75 units, each with a pair of spectrographs) fed by 33,600 fibers, each 1.5 arcsec diameter, deployed over the 22 arcminute field of the upgraded 10 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). The goal is to deploy 96 units. VIRUS has a fixed bandpass of 350-550 nm and resolving power R~700. VIRUS is the first example of industrial-scale replication applied to optical astronomy and is capable of spectral surveys of large areas of sky. The method of industrial replication, in which a relatively simple, inexpensive, unit spectrograph is copied in large numbers, offers significant savings of engineering effort, cost, and schedule when compared to traditional instruments. The main motivator for VIRUS is to map the evolution of dark energy for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX+) using 0.8M Lyman-α emitting galaxies as tracers. The full VIRUS array is due to be deployed in late 2011 and will provide a powerful new facility instrument for the HET, well suited to the survey niche of the telescope. VIRUS and HET will open up wide field surveys of the emission-line universe for the first time. We present the design, cost, and current status of VIRUS as it enters production, and review performance results from the VIRUS prototype. We also present lessons learned from our experience designing for volume production and look forward to the application of the VIRUS concept on future extremely large telescopes (ELTs).

Current status of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope wide-field upgrade

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is an innovative large telescope of 9.2 meter aperture, located in West Texas at the McDonald Observatory (MDO). The HET operates with a fixed segmented primary and has a tracker which moves the four-mirror corrector and prime focus instrument package to track the sidereal and non-sidereal motions of objects. A major upgrade of the HET is in progress that will increase the pupil size to 10 meters and the field of view to 22′ by replacing the corrector, tracker and prime focus instrument package. In addition to supporting the existing suite of instruments, this wide field upgrade will feed a revolutionary new integral field spectrograph called VIRUS, in support of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEXχ). This paper discusses the current status of this upgrade.

Development of a wide field spherical aberration corrector for the Hobby Eberly Telescope

A 4-mirror prime focus corrector is under development to provide seeing-limited images for the 10-m aperture Hobby- Eberly Telescope (HET) over a 22 arcminute wide field of view. The HET uses an 11-m fixed elevation segmented spherical primary mirror, with pointing and tracking performed by moving the prime focus instrument package (PFIP) such that it rotates about the virtual center of curvature of the spherical primary mirror. The images created by the spherical primary mirror are aberrated with 13 arcmin diameter point spread function. The University of Arizona is developing the 4-mirror wide field corrector to compensate the aberrations from the primary mirror and present seeing limited imaged to the pickoffs for the fiber-fed spectrographs. The requirements for this system pose several challenges, including optical fabrication of the aspheric mirrors, system alignment, and operational mechanical stability.

Mechanical design evolution of the VIRUS instrument for volume production and deployment

The Visible Integral-Field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS) is an integral field spectrograph to support observations for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). The VIRUS instrument is fed by more than 33,000 optical fibers and consists of 150 spectrographs in 75 individual, identical units. This paper discusses the evolution in mechanical design of the VIRUS unit spectrographs to maximize the cost benefit from volume production. Design features which enable volume manufacture and assembly are discussed. Strategies for reducing part count while enabling precision alignment are detailed. Design considerations for deployment, operation, and maintenance en mass at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope are also made. In addition, several enabling technologies are described including the use of cast aluminum in vacuum housings, use of cast Invar, and processing cast parts for precision tolerances.

VIRUS: production and deployment of a massively replicated fiber integral field spectrograph for the upgraded Hobby-Eberly Telescope

The Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS) consists of a baseline build of 150 identical spectrographs (arrayed as 75 unit pairs) fed by 33,600 fibers, each 1.5 arcsec diameter, at the focus of the upgraded 10 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). VIRUS has a fixed bandpass of 350-550 nm and resolving power R~700. VIRUS is the first example of industrial-scale replication applied to optical astronomy and is capable of surveying large areas of sky, spectrally. The VIRUS concept offers significant savings of engineering effort, cost, and schedule when compared to traditional instruments. The main motivator for VIRUS is to map the evolution of dark energy for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX), using 0.8M Lyman-α emitting galaxies as tracers. The full VIRUS array is due to be deployed starting at the end of 2014 and will provide a powerful new facility instrument for the HET, well suited to the survey niche of the telescope, and will open up large area surveys of the emission line universe for the first time. VIRUS is in full production, and we are about half way through. We review the production design, lessons learned in reaching volume production, and preparation for deployment of this massive instrument. We also discuss the application of the replicated spectrograph concept to next generation instrumentation on ELTs.

Fine optical alignment correction of astronomical spectrographs via in-situ full-field moment-based wavefront sensing

The image moment-based wavefront sensing (IWFS) utilizes moments of focus-modulated focal plane images to determine modal wavefront aberrations. This permits fast, easy, and accurate measurement of wavefront error (WFE) on any available finite-sized isolated targets across the entire focal plane (FP) of an imaging system, thereby allowing not only in-situ full-field image quality assessment, but also deterministic fine alignment correction of the imaging system. We present an experimental demonstration where fine alignment correction of a fast camera system in a fiber-fed astronomical spectrograph, called VIRUS, is accomplished by using IWFS.

Deployment of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope wide field upgrade

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is an innovative large telescope located in West Texas at the McDonald Observatory. The HET operates with a fixed segmented primary and has a tracker, which moves the four-mirror optical corrector and prime focus instrument package to track the sidereal and non-sidereal motions of objects. A major upgrade of the HET is in progress that will substantially increase the pupil size to 10 meters (from 9.2 m) and the field of view to 22 arcminutes (from 4 arcminutes) by replacing the corrector, tracker, and prime focus instrument package. In addition to supporting existing instruments, and a new low resolution spectrograph, this wide field upgrade will feed a revolutionary new integral field spectrograph called VIRUS, in support of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX§). The upgrade is being installed and this paper discusses the current status.

VIRUS: production of a massively replicated 33k fiber integral field spectrograph for the upgraded Hobby-Eberly Telescope

The Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS) consists of a baseline build of 150 identical spectrographs (arrayed as 75 units, each with a pair of spectrographs) fed by 33,600 fibers, each 1.5 arcsec diameter, deployed over the 22 arcminute field of the upgraded 10 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). The goal is to deploy 82 units. VIRUS has a fixed bandpass of 350-550 nm and resolving power R~700. VIRUS is the first example of industrial-scale replication applied to optical astronomy and is capable of spectral surveys of large areas of sky. This approach, in which a relatively simple, inexpensive, unit spectrograph is copied in large numbers, offers significant savings of engineering effort, cost, and schedule when compared to traditional instruments. The main motivator for VIRUS is to map the evolution of dark energy for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) using 0.8M Lyman-α emitting galaxies as tracers. The full VIRUS array is due to be deployed by early 2014 and will provide a powerful new facility instrument for the HET, well suited to the survey niche of the telescope. VIRUS and HET will open up wide-field surveys of the emission-line universe for the first time. We present the production design and current status of VIRUS.

Initial Results from VIRUS Production Spectrographs

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) uses a novel technique of replicated spectrographs (VIRUS) to measure dark energy at intermediate redshifts (2 < z < 4). VIRUS contains over 30,000 fibers and over 160 independent and identical channels. Here we report on the construction and characterization of the initial batch of VIRUS spectrograph cameras. Assembly of the first batch of 16 is in progress. A brief overview of the assembly is presented, and where available performance is compared to specification.

Metrology systems of Hobby-Eberly Telescope wide field upgrade

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) Wide-Field Upgrade (WFU) will be equipped with new closed-loop metrology systems to actively control the optical alignment of the new four-mirror Wide-Field Corrector (WFC) as it tracks sidereal motion with respect to the fixed primary mirror. These systems include a tip/tilt camera (TTCam), distance measuring interferometers (DMI), guide probes (GP), and wavefront sensors (WFS). While the TTCam and DMIs are to monitor the mechanical alignment of the WFC, the WFSs and GPs will produce direct measurement of the optical alignment of the WFC with respect to the HET primary mirror. Together, these systems provide fully redundant alignment and pointing information for the telescope, thereby keeping the WFC in focus and suppressing alignment driven field aberrations. In addition to these closed-loop metrology systems, we will have a pupil viewing camera (PVCam) and a calibration wavefront sensor (CWFS). The PVCam will be used for occasional reflectance measurement of the HET primary mirror segments in the standard R,G,B colors. The CWFS will provide the reference wavefront signal against which the other two WFS are calibrated. We describe the current snapshot of these systems and discuss lab/on-sky performance test results of the systems.