F. Ghinassi

NICS: The TNG Near Infrared Camera Spectrometer

NICS (the Near Infrared Camera Spectrometer) is a cooled near-infrared camera{spectrometer that has been developed by the Arcetri Infrared Group at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, in collaboration with the CAISMI-CNR for the TNG (the Italian National Telescope Galileo at La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain). As NICS is in its scientic commissioning phase, we report its observing capabilities in the near{infrared bands at the TNG, along with the measured performance and the limiting magnitudes. We also describe some technical details of the project, such as cryogenics, mechanics, and the system which executes data acquisition and control, along with the related software.

The infrared supernova rate in starburst galaxies

We report the results of our ongoing search for extincted supernovae (SNe) at near-infrared wavelengths. We have monitored at 2.2m a sample of 46 Luminous Infrared Galaxies and detected 4 SNe. The number of detections is still small but sucient to provide the first estimate of supernova rate at near-infrared wavelengths. We measure a SN rate of SN NIR = 7:6 3:8 SNu which is an order of magnitude larger than observed in quiescent galaxies. On the other hand, the observed near- infrared rate is still a factor 3 10 smaller than that estimated from the far-infrared luminosity of the galaxies. Among various possibilities, the most likely scenario is that dust extinction is so high ( AV> 30) to obscure most SNe even in the near-IR. The role of type Ia SNe is also discussed within this context. We derive the type Ia SN rate as a function of the stellar mass of the galaxy and find a sharp increase toward galaxies with higher activity of star formation. This suggests that a significant fraction of type Ia SNe are associated with young stellar populations. Finally, as a by-product, we give the average K-band light curve of core-collapse SNe based on all the existing data, and review the relation between SN rate and far-infrared luminosity.

Infrared spectroscopy of the largest known trans-Neptunian object 2001 KX76

We report complete near-infrared (0.9-2.4

Discovery of two infrared supernovae: A new window on the SN search ?

mu

Transmission curves and effective refraction indices of MKO near infrared consortium filters at cryogenic temperatures

m) spectral observations of the largest know trans-neptunian objects (TNO) 28976 = 2001 KX

GIANO: an ultrastable IR echelle spectrometer optimized for high-precision radial velocity measurements and for high-throughput low-resolution spectroscopy

_{76}

GIARPS@TNG: GIANO-B and HARPS-N together for a wider wavelength range spectroscopy

taken in two different nights using the new Near Infrared Camera Spectrometer (NICS) attached to the 3.56m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG). The spectra are featureless and correspond to a neutral colored object. Our observations indicate that the surface of 2001 KX

GIARPS: the unique VIS-NIR high precision radial velocity facility in this world

_{76}

On-sky tests of an A/R coated silicon grism on board NICS at TNG

is probably highly evolved due to long term irradiation, and that collisional resurfacing processes have not played an important role in its evolution.

NIR Low-Resolution Spectroscopy of L-Dwarfs: An Efficient Classification Scheme for Faint Dwarfs

We report the discovery of two supernovae (SN 1999gw and SN 2001db) obtained within the framework of an infrared monitoring campaign of Luminous Infrared Galaxies, aimed at detecting obscured supernovae. SN 2001db, extinguished by Av~5.5 mag, is the first supernova discovered in the infrared which has received the spectroscopic confirmation. This result highlights the power of infrared monitoring in detecting obscured SNe and indicates that optical surveys are probably missing a significant fraction of SNe, especially in obscured systems such as starburst galaxies. The preliminary estimate of SN rate in LIRG galaxies is about an order of magnitude higher than that expected from optical surveys.