Luke Gers

GNOSIS: the first instrument to use fiber Bragg gratings for OH suppression

The near-infrared is an important part of the spectrum in astronomy, especially in cosmology because the light from objects in the early universe is redshifted to these wavelengths. However, deep near-infrared observations are extremely difficult to make from ground-based telescopes due to the bright background from the atmosphere. Nearly all of this background comes from the bright and narrow emission lines of atmospheric hydroxyl (OH) molecules. The atmospheric background cannot be easily removed from data because the brightness fluctuates unpredictably on short timescales. The sensitivity of ground-based optical astronomy far exceeds that of near-infrared astronomy because of this long-standing problem. GNOSIS is a prototype astrophotonic instrument that utilizes “OH suppression fibers” consisting of fiber Bragg gratings and photonic lanterns to suppress the 103 brightest atmospheric emission doublets between 1.47 and 1.7µm. GNOSIS was commissioned at the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope with the IRIS2 spectrograph to demonstrate the potential of OH suppression fibers, but may be potentially used with any telescope and spectrograph combination. Unlike previous atmospheric suppression techniques GNOSIS suppresses the lines before dispersion and in a manner that depends purely on wavelength. We present the instrument design and report the results of laboratory and on-sky tests from commissioning. While these tests demonstrated high throughput (� 60%) and excellent suppression of the skylines by the OH suppression fibers, surprisingly GNOSIS produced no significant reduction in the interline background and the sensitivity of GNOSIS+IRIS2 is about the same as IRIS2. It is unclear whether the lack of reduction in the interline background is due to physical sources or systematic errors as the observations are detector noise dominated. OH suppression fibers could potentially impact ground-based astronomy at the level of adaptive optics or greater. However, until a clear reduction in the interline background and the corresponding increasing in sensitivity is demonstrated optimized OH suppression fibers paired with a fiber-fed spectrograph will at least provide a real benefit at low resolving powers. Subject headings: atmospheric effects – infrared: diffuse background – instrumentation: miscellaneous

Suppression of the near-infrared OH night sky lines with fibre Bragg gratings - first results

The background noise between 1 and 1.8 ?mu m in ground-based instruments is dominated by atmospheric emission from hydroxyl molecules. We have built and commissioned a new instrument, the Gemini Near-infrared OH Suppression Integral Field Unit (IFU) System (GNOSIS), which suppresses 103 OH doublets between 1.47 and 1.7?mu m by a factor of 1000 with a resolving power of 10?000. We present the first results from the commissioning of GNOSIS using the IRIS2 spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We present measurements of sensitivity, background and throughput. The combined throughput of the GNOSIS fore-optics, grating unit and relay optics is 36?per cent, but this could be improved to 46?per cent with a more optimal design. We measure strong suppression of the OH lines, confirming that OH suppression with fibre Bragg gratings will be a powerful technology for low-resolution spectroscopy. The integrated OH suppressed background between 1.5 and 1.7 mu m is reduced by a factor of 9 compared to a control spectrum using the same system without suppression. The potential of low-resolution OH-suppressed spectroscopy is illustrated with example observations of Seyfert galaxies and a low-mass star. The GNOSIS background is dominated by detector dark current below 1.67 mu m and by thermal emission above 1.67 mu m. After subtracting these, we detect an unidentified residual interline component of 860 +/- 210 photons s-1 m-2?arcsec-2?mu m-1, comparable to previous measurements. This component is equally bright in the suppressed and control spectra. We have investigated the possible source of the interline component, but were unable to discriminate between a possible instrumental artefact and intrinsic atmospheric emission. Resolving the source of this emission is crucial for the design of fully optimized OH suppression spectrographs. The next-generation OH suppression spectrograph will be focused on resolving the source of the interline component, taking advantage of better optimization for a fibre Bragg grating feed incorporating refinements of design based on our findings from GNOSIS. We quantify the necessary improvements for an optimal OH suppressing fibre spectrograph design.

First light results from the High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope

Abstract. The High Efficiency and Resolution Multi Element Spectrograph, HERMES, is a facility-class optical spectrograph for the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). It is designed primarily for Galactic Archaeology, the first major attempt to create a detailed understanding of galaxy formation and evolution by studying the history of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The goal of the GALAH survey is to reconstruct the mass assembly history of the Milky Way through a detailed chemical abundance study of one million stars. The spectrograph is based at the AAT and is fed by the existing 2dF robotic fiber positioning system. The spectrograph uses volume phase holographic gratings to achieve a spectral resolving power of 28,000 in standard mode and also provides a high-resolution mode ranging between 40,000 and 50,000 using a slit mask. The GALAH survey requires an SNR greater than 100 for a star brightness of V=14 in an exposure time of one hour. The total spectral coverage of the four channels is about 100 nm between 370 and 1000 nm for up to 392 simultaneous targets within the 2-degree field of view. HERMES has been commissioned over three runs, during bright time in October, November, and December 2013, in parallel with the beginning of the GALAH pilot survey, which started in November 2013. We present the first-light results from the commissioning run and the beginning of the GALAH survey, including performance results such as throughput and resolution, as well as instrument reliability.

Hector: a high-multiplex survey instrument for spatially resolved galaxy spectroscopy

First light from the SAMI (Sydney-AAO Multi-object IFS) instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) has recently proven the viability of fibre hexabundles for multi-IFU spectroscopy. SAMI, which comprises 13 hexabundle IFUs deployable over a 1 degree field-of-view, has recently begun science observations, and will target a survey of several thousand galaxies. The scientific outputs from such galaxy surveys are strongly linked to survey size, leading the push towards instruments with higher multiplex capability. We have begun work on a new instrument concept, called Hector, which will target a spatially-resolved spectroscopic survey of up to one hundred thousand galaxies. The key science questions for this instrument concept include how do galaxies get their gas, how is star formation and nuclear activity affected by environment, what is the role of feedback, and what processes can be linked to galaxy groups and clusters. One design option for Hector uses the existing 2 degree field-of view top end at the AAT, with 50 individual robotically deployable 61-core hexabundle IFUs, and 3 fixed format spectrographs covering the visible wavelength range with a spectral resolution of approximately 4000. A more ambitious option incorporates a modified top end at the AAT with a new 3 degree field-of-view wide-field-corrector and 100 hexabundle IFUs feeding 6 spectrographs.

CYCLOPS2: the fibre image slicer upgrade for the UCLES high resolution spectrograph

CYCLOPS2 is an upgrade for the UCLES high resolution spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, scheduled for commissioning in semester 2012A. By replacing the 5 mirror Coud´e train with a Cassegrain mounted fibre-based image slicer CYCLOPS2 simultaneously provides improved throughput, reduced aperture losses and increased spectral resolution. Sixteen optical fibres collect light from a 5.0 arcsecond2 area of sky and reformat it into the equivalent of a 0.6 arcsecond wide slit, delivering a spectral resolution of R= 70000 and up to twice as much flux as the standard 1 arcsecond slit of the Coud´e train. CYCLOPS2 also adds support for simultaneous ThAr wavelength calibration via a dedicated fibre. CYCLOPS2 consists of three main components, the fore-optics unit, fibre bundle and slit unit. The fore optics unit incorporates magnification optics and a lenslet array and is designed to mount to the CURE Cassegrain instrument interface, which provides acquisition, guiding and calibration facilities. The fibre bundle transports the light from the Cassegrain focus to the UCLES spectrograph at Coud´e and also includes a fibre mode scrambler. The slit unit consists of the fibre slit and relay optics to project an image of the slit onto the entrance aperture of the UCLES spectrograph. CYCLOPS2 builds on experience with the first generation CYCLOPS fibre system, which we also describe in this paper. We present the science case for an image slicing fibre feed for echelle spectroscopy and describe the design of CYCLOPS and CYCLOPS2.

TAIPAN: optical spectroscopy with StarBugs

TAIPAN is a spectroscopic instrument designed for the UK Schmidt Telescope at the Australian Astronomical Observatory. In addition to undertaking the TAIPAN survey, it will serve as a prototype for the MANIFEST fibre positioner system for the future Giant Magellan Telescope. The design for TAIPAN incorporates up to 300 optical fibres situated within independently-controlled robotic positioners known as Starbugs, allowing precise parallel positioning of every fibre, thus significantly reducing instrument configuration time and increasing observing time. We describe the design of the TAIPAN instrument system, as well as the science that will be accomplished by the TAIPAN survey. We also highlight results from the on-sky tests performed in May 2014 with Starbugs on the UK Schmidt Telescope and briefly introduce the role that Starbugs will play in MANIFEST.

The MANIFEST fibre positioning system for the Giant Magellan Telescope

MANIFEST is a fibre feed system for the Giant Magellan Telescope that, coupled to the seeing-limited instruments GMACS and G-CLEF, offers qualitative and quantitative gains over each instrument’s native capabilities in terms of multiplex, field of view, and resolution. The MANIFEST instrument concept is based on a system of semi-autonomous probes called “Starbugs” that hold and position hundreds of optical fibre IFUs under a glass field plate placed at the GMT Cassegrain focal plane. The Starbug probes feature co-axial piezoceramic tubes that, via the application of appropriate AC waveforms, contract or bend, providing a discrete stepping motion. Simultaneous positioning of all Starbugs is achieved via a closed-loop metrology system.

GNOSIS: A novel near-infrared OH suppression unit at the AAT

GNOSIS has provided the first on-telescope demonstration of a concept to utilize complex aperioidc fiber Bragg gratings to suppress the 103 brightest atmospheric hydroxyl emission doublets between 1.47-1.7 μm. The unit is designed to be used at the 3.9-meter Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) feeding the IRIS2 spectrograph. Unlike previous atmospheric suppression techniques GNOSIS suppresses the lines before dispersion. We present the results of laboratory and on-sky tests from instrument commissioning. These tests reveal excellent suppression performance by the gratings and high inter-notch throughput, which combine to produce high fidelity OH-free spectra.

Integrating the HERMES spectrograph for the AAT

The High Efficiency and Resolution Multi Element Spectrograph, HERMES is an optical spectrograph designed primarily for the GALAH, Galactic Archeology Survey, the first major attempt to create a detailed understanding of galaxy formation and evolution by studying the history of our own galaxy, the Milky Way1. The goal of the GALAH survey is to reconstruct the mass assembly history of the of the Milky way, through a detailed spatially tagged abundance study of one million stars in the Milky Way. The spectrograph will be based at the Anglo Australian Telescope (AAT) and be fed with the existing 2dF robotic fibre positioning system. The spectrograph uses VPH-gratings to achieve a spectral resolving power of 28,000 in standard mode and also provides a high resolution mode ranging between 40,000 to 50,000 using a slit mask. The GALAH survey requires a SNR greater than 100 aiming for a star brightness of V=14. The total spectral coverage of the four channels is about 100nm between 370 and 1000nm for up to 392 simultaneous targets within the 2 degree field of view. Current efforts are focused on manufacturing and integration. The delivery date of spectrograph at the telescope is scheduled for 2013. A performance prediction is presented and a complete overview of the status of the HERMES spectrograph is given. This paper details the following specific topics: The approach to AIT, the manufacturing and integration of the large mechanical frame, the opto-mechanical slit assembly, collimator optics and cameras, VPH gratings, cryostats, fibre cable assembly, instrument control hardware and software, data reduction.

Towards a spectroscopic survey of one hundred thousand spatially resolved galaxies with Hector

Hector is an instrument concept for a multi integral-field-unit spectrograph aimed at obtaining a tenfold increase in capability over the current generation of such instruments. The key science questions for this instrument include how do galaxies get their gas, how is star formation and nuclear activity affected by environment, what is the role of feedback, and what processes can be linked to galaxy groups and clusters. The baseline design for Hector incorporates multiple hexabundle fibre integral-field-units that are each positioned using Starbug robots across a three-degree field at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The Hector fibres feed dedicated fixed-format spectrographs, for which the parameter space is currently being explored.