Carlos Tejada

Hobby-Eberly Telescope low-resolution spectrograph

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is a revolutionary large telescope of 9.2 meter aperture, located in West Texas at McDonald Observatory. First light was obtained on December 11, 1996. The start of scientific operations is expected in the late summer of 1998. The Low Resolution Spectrograph [LRS, an international collaboration between the University of Texas at Austin (UT), the Instituto de Astronomia de la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (IAUNAM), Stanford University, Ludwig-Maximillians-Universitat, Munich (USM), and Georg- August-Universitat, Gottingen (USG)] is a high throughput, imaging spectrograph which rides on the HET tracker at prime focus. The LRS will be the first HET facility instrument. The remote location and the tight space and weight constraints make the LRS a challenging instrument, built on a limited budget. The optics were partially constructed in Mexico at IAUNAM, the mechanics in Germany, and the camera and CCD system in Texas. The LRS is a grism spectrograph with three modes of operation: imaging, longslit, and multi-object. The field of view of the HET is 4 arcmin in diameter, and the LRS will have a 13-slitlet Multi Object Spectroscopy (MOS) unit covering this field. The MOS unit is based on miniature components and is remotely configurable under computer control. Resolving powers between R equals (lambda) /(Delta) (lambda) approximately 600 and 3000 with a 1 arcsecond wide slit will be achieved with a variety of grisms, of which two can be carried by the instrument at any one time. The CCD is a Ford Aerospace 3072 X 1024 device with 15 micrometer pixels, and the image scale is approximately 0.25 arcsec per pixel. Here we present a detailed description of the LRS, and provide an overview of the optical and mechanical aspects of its design (which are discussed in detail elsewhere in these proceedings). Fabrication, assembly, and testing of the LRS will be completed by mid 1998. First light for the LRS on the HET is expected in the summer of 1998.

OSIRIS tunable imager and spectrograph for the GTC. Instrument status

OSIRIS (Optical System for Imaging and low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy) is the optical Day One instrument for the 10.4m Spanish telescope GTC to be installed in the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos (La Palma, Spain). This instrument, operational in mid-2004, covers from 360 up to 1000 nm. OSIRIS observing modes include direct imaging with tunable and conventional filters, long slit and multiple object spectroscopy and fast spectrophotometry. The OSIRIS wide field of view, high efficiency and the new observing modes (tunable imaging and fast spectrophotometry) for 8-10m class telescopes will provide GTC with a powerful tool for their scientific exploitation. The present paper provides an updated overview of the instrument development, of some of the scientific projects that will be tackled with OSIRIS and of the general requirements driving the optical and mechanical design.

OSIRIS tunable imager and spectrograph

The Optical System for Imaging and low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) will be a Day-One instrument of the Spanish 10.4 m telescope Gran Telescopio Canarias, whose first light is planned for 2002. GTC will be installed at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma, Spain. OSIRIS three primary modes are imaging and low resolution long slit and multiple object spectroscopy. The instrument is designed to operate from 365 to 1000 nm with a field of view of 7 by 7 arcminutes and a maximum spectral resolution of 5000. Among the OSIRIS main features are the use of tunable filters for direct imaging, the use of Volume Phase Holographic Gratings as dispersive elements for spectroscopy, and the implementation of an articulated camera to provide maximum spectroscopic efficiency and versatility. Here we present a general description and an overview of the main instrument characteristics.

VIRUS: a massively replicated IFU spectrograph for HET

We investigate the role of industrial replication in the construction of the next generation of spectrographs for large telescopes. In this paradigm, a simple base spectrograph unit is replicated to provide multiplex advantage, while the engineering costs are amortized over many copies. We argue that this is a cost-effective approach when compared to traditional spectrograph design, where each instrument is essentially a one-off prototype with heavy expenditure on engineering effort. As an example of massive replication, we present the design of, and the science drivers for, the Visible IFU Replicable Ultra-cheap Spectrograph (VIRUS). This instrument is made up of 132 individually small and simple spectrographs, each fed by a fiber integral field unit. The total VIRUS-132 instrument covers ~29 sq. arcminutes per observation, providing integral field spectroscopy from 340 to 570 nm, simultaneously, of 32,604 spatial elements, each 1 sq. arcsecond on the sky. VIRUS-132 will be mounted on the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope and fed by a new wide-field corrector with a science field in excess of 16.5 arcminutes diameter. VIRUS represents a new approach to spectrograph design, offering the science multiplex advantage of huge sky coverage for an integral field spectrograph, coupled with the engineering multiplex advantage of >102 spectrographs making up a whole.

UNAM scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer (PUMA) for the study of interstellar medium

The system called PUMA is an instrument consisting of a focal reducer coupled to a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer (SFPI), which is being developed for the Observatorio Astronomicao Nacional at San Pedro Martir, B.C. It will be installed at the 2.0 m Ritchey-Chretien telescope with a focal ratio of F/7.9. It has interference filters, a calibration system, and field diaphragms. The SFPI can be moved out of the optical path in order to acquire direct images. The images produced by this instrument will be focused on an optoelectronic detector, a CCD, or a Mepsicron, depending on the spectral range used.

OSIRIS tunable imager and spectrograph for the GTC: from design to commissioning

OSIRIS (Optical System for Imaging and low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy) was the optical Day One instrument for the 10.4m Spanish telescope GTC. It is installed at the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos (La Palma, Spain). This instrument has been operational since March-2009 and covers from 360 to 1000 nm. OSIRIS observing modes include direct imaging with tunable and conventional filters, long slit and low resolution spectroscopy. OSIRIS wide field of view and high efficiency provide a powerful tool for the scientific exploitation of GTC. OSIRIS was developed by a Consortium formed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Instituto de Astronomía de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IA-UNAM). The latter was in charge of the optical design, the manufacture of the camera and collaboration in the assembly, integration and verification process. The IAC was responsible for the remaining design of the instrument and it was the project leader. The present paper considers the development of the instrument from its design to its present situation in which is in used by the scientific community.

Design of an f/1 Camera for the HET Low-Resolution Spectrograph IR Extension *

We present the optical design of the f/1 camera for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Low Resolution Spectrograph Infrared Extension (LRS-J). This instrument extends the coverage of the LRS to 1300 nm by adding a fast cryogenic camera and volume holographic grisms (VPHG) to the LRS. This approach enables new science without the expense of building a complete new instrument. The camera is a catadioptric Maksutov type design, based on that of the optical LRS, that uses a HAWAII-1 1024x1024 detector. The design succeeds in imaging virtually all the light into one pixel over the HET field of view (FOV) and the wavelength range 900-1300 nm. We discuss the challenges of designing and manufacturing a fast camera for cryogenic use, and give details of the tolerance analysis.

Dual infrared camera for near and mid infrared observations

We present the dual IR camera CID for the 2.12 m telescope of the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional de Mexico, IA-UNAM. The system consists of two separate cameras/spectrographs that operate in different regions of the IR spectrum. In the near IR, CID comprises a direct imaging camera with wide band filters, a CVF, and a low resolution spectrograph employing an InSb 256 x 256 detector. In the mid IR, CID uses a BIB 128 x 128 detector for direct imaging in 10 and 20 microns. Optics and mechanics of CID were developed at IR-Labs (Tucson). The electronics was developed by R. Leach (S. Diego). General design, construction of auxiliary optics (oscillating secondary mirror), necessary modifications and optimization of the electronics, and acquisition software were carried out at OAN/ UNAM. The compact design of the instruments allow them to share a single dewar and the cryogenics system.

OSIRIS optical design

The Optical System for Imaging and low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) is being designed as a Day-One optical instrument for the 10.4 mts Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC). It will be the first instrument, on such a large telescope, belonging to a new class of tunable spectrographs, implementing last advances in Volume Phase Holographic Gratings and tunable imaging combined with charge shuffling capabilities, covering the optical wavelength range. OSIRIS< to be first mounted dat one of GTCs Nasmyth platforms, is designed to be compact enough to fit at the Cassegrain focus as well. The optical design is devised around the classical concept of collimator plus camera. The collimator is an off axis ellipsoidal mirror, while the f/2.475 camera consists of several groups of all spherical surfaces lenses, forming a unit together with the detector rand cryocooler. A folder mirror prevents interference with the GTC acquisition and guiding subsystem. Several combinations of color and interference filters. TFs and VPHs are available in the collimated beam, near the pupil, to provide the wide versatility of required observing modes and resolutions. Short descriptions of the OSIRIS geometry, specifications, design strategy and the optical design are presented.

COATLI: an all-sky robotic optical imager with 0.3 arcsec image quality

COATLI will provide 0.3 arcsec FWHM images from 550 to 900 nm over a large fraction of the sky. It consists of a robotic 50-cm telescope with a diffraction-limited fast-guiding imager. Since the telescope is small, fast guiding will provide diffraction-limited image quality over a field of at least 1 arcmin and with coverage of a large fraction of the sky, even in relatively poor seeing. The COATLI telescope will be installed at the at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in Sierra San Pedro Mártir, México, during 2016 and the diffraction-limited imager will follow in 2017.