F. Javier Fuentes

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.

LIRIS: a long-slit intermediate-resolution infrared spectrograph for the WHT

The Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) is undertaking the design and construction of a common-user near IR spectrograph (LIRIS) for the Cassegrain focus of the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope sited at the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos. LIRIS will be a near IR intermediate-resolution spectrograph designed to operate over a spectral resolution range between 1000 and 5000, with added capabilities for coronographic, multiproject and polarimetric observations. The instrument allows the combination of an adequate spatial resolution with a large useful field of view across the slit, thanks to the use of the new 1024 X 1024 pixel HgCdTe Hawaii detector manufactured by Rockwell. All the optics and mechanisms situated inside the cryostat will be cooled to below 100 K. The detector will operate at 77 K. Calibration and tracking will be made with the existing Cassegrain A and G Box, into which a near IR calibration system will be incorporated.

EMIR, cryogenic NIR multi-object spectrograph for GTC

EMIR is a near-IR, multi-slit camera-spectrograph under development for the 10m GTC on La Palma. It will deliver up to 45 independent R equals 3500-4000 spectra of sources over a field of view of 6 feet by 3 feet, and allow NIR imaging over a 6 foot by 6 foot FOV, with spatial sampling of 0.175 inch/pixel. The prime science goal of the instrument is to open K-band, wide field multi-object spectroscopy on 10m class telescopes. Science applications range from the study of star-forming galaxies beyond z equals 2, to observations of substellar objects and dust-enshrouded star formation regions. Main technological challenges include the large optics, the mechanical and thermal stability and the need to implement a mask exchange mechanism that does not require warming up the spectrograph. EMIR is begin developed by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, the Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the Observatoire Midi-Pyrennees, and the University of Durham. Currently in its Preliminary Design phase, EMIR is expected to start science operation in 2004.

One-dimensional image reconstruction by exponential filtering in infrared stellar speckle interferometry: application to IRC +10216

Exponential filtering, together with an improved version of the iterative Fourier-transform algorithm, is applied to image reconstruction from one-dimensional infrared stellar speckle interferometry data. The performance of the method is checked first by computer simulations with both noiseless and noisy data and then with a realistic simulation of one-dimensional infrared stellar speckle interferometry. We have seen no problems with convergence. The only problem that we found was an expected noisy appearance of the results when noisy data were simulated. Finally, the method was applied to observational specklegrams of the infrared source IRC +10216, in two standard photometric bands: K and M (2.2 and 5 μm, respectively). The reconstruction in K of a north–south scan clearly shows three components inside a circumstellar shell. On the other hand, in the M band only a wing on the north side of the main component is resolvable.

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.

The EMIR optical system

EMIR is a multiobject intermediate resolution near infrared (1.0 - 2.5 microns) spectrograph with image capabilities to be mounted on the Gran Telescopio Canarias (Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Spain). EMIR is under design by a consortium of Spanish, French and British institutions, led by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. This work has been partially funded by the GTC Project Office. The instrument will deliver images and spectra in a large FOV (6 X 6 arcmin), and because of the telescope image scale (1 arcmin equals 52 mm) and the spectral resolution required, around 4000, one of the major challenges of the instrument is the optics and optomechanics. Different approaches have been studied since the initial proposal, trying to control the risks of the instrument, while fitting the initial scientific requirements. Issues on optical concepts, material availability, temperature as well as optomechanical mounting of the instrument will be presented.

Electronic testing of the IAC infrared camera

The technology division of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) is developing a data acquisition system (DAS) for an IR camera to be used at the 1.5m Carlos Sanchez Telescope (TCS) in the Observatorio del Teide (Canary Islands, Spain). This camera will work between a wavelength of 1 and 5 microns and will employ an InSb focal plane array (FPA). The DAS and the user interface are based on a UNIX workstation with a modular transputer based controller. The IGA-256 (Cincinnati Electronics) has been evaluated as a candidate for the focal plane array. The main features related to the potential astronomical performance, such as well depth and dark current are reported. The testing procedures and present status of the camera are discussed.

Thermal effects and thermal compensation in the OSIRIS camera

Tight stability requirements for the imager/spectrograph OSIRIS (a Day One optical instrument for the GTC telescope) demand a careful treatment of thermal effects within the OSIRIS camera. Mostly due to the thermal response of refraction indices of its glasses (and not so much to curvature, spacing or thickness variations of the lenses), the camera optics alone degrades beyond requirements the image quality and plate scale under the expected ambient temperature variations (about 1.8 °C/hour). Thermal effects and thermal compensator studies of the OSIRIS camera are first summarized, before discussing how the motion (of a few microns per °C) of the 3rd camera doublet, as a sole compensator, practically eliminates thermal influences on both image quality and plate scale. A concept for the passive implementation of the compensator is also discussed.

LIRIS (long-slit intermediate-resolution infrared spectrograph): project status

LIRIS is a near-IR intermediate resolution spectrograph with added capabilities for multi-object, imaging, coronography, and polarimetry. This instrument is now being constructed at the IAC, and upon complexion will be installed on the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope at the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos. The optical system uses lenses and is based on a classical collimator/camera design. Grisms are used as the dispersion elements. The plate scale matches the median seeing at the ORM. The detector is a Hawaii 1024 X 1024 HgCdTe array operating at 60K.

Near-infrared camera for solar research: a photometric application

We report here the main characteristics of a near IR camera devoted to astrophysical solar research, which has been developed by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC). The system is now being used for photometric and spectroscopic applications, and it will also be used for spectropolarimetry in the near future. The first application is described below in detail. The IACs IR camera is based on a Rockwell 256 X 256 HgCdTe NICMOS3 array, sensitive from 1 to 2.5 microns. The necessary cooling system is a LN2- cryostat, designed and built by IR labs under out requirements. The main electronics are the standard VME- based, FPGA programmable MCE-3 system, also developed by IR labs. We have implemented different readout schemes to improve sped, reduce noise and avoid seeing effects, taking into account each specific application. Data are transferred via fiber optics to a control unit, which re-send them to the main data acquisition system. Several acquisition modes to select the best images have been implemented, and a real- time data processing is available, the entire camera has been characterized and calibrated, and the main radiometric parameters given. Preliminary test in spectroscopic observations have been made in the German Towers at the Observatorio del Teide in Tenerife, Spain, and a series of photometric measurements performed in the Swedish Solar Telescope, at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma, Spain. As examples, some scientific results are also presented.