Tom Vermeulen

SPIRou: the near-infrared spectropolarimeter/high-precision velocimeter for the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope

SPIRou is a near-IR echelle spectropolarimeter and high-precision velocimeter under construction as a next- generation instrument for the Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope. It is designed to cover a very wide simultaneous near-IR spectral range (0.98-2.35 μm) at a resolving power of 73.5K, providing unpolarized and polarized spectra of low-mass stars at a radial velocity (RV) precision of 1m/s. The main science goals of SPIRou are the detection of habitable super-Earths around low-mass stars and the study of stellar magnetism of star at the early stages of their formation. Following a successful final design review in Spring 2014, SPIRou is now under construction and is scheduled to see first light in late 2017. We present an overview of key aspects of SPIRou’s optical and mechanical design.

SPIRou @ CFHT: design of the instrument control system

SPIRou is a near-IR (0.98-2.35μm), echelle spectropolarimeter / high precision velocimeter being designed as a nextgeneration instrument for the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, with the main goals of detecting Earth-like planets around low-mass stars and magnetic fields of forming stars. The unique scientific and technical capabilities of SPIRou are described in a series of eight companion papers. In this paper, the means of controlling the instrument are discussed. Most of the instrument control is fairly normal, using off-the-shelf components where possible and reusing already available code for these components. Some aspects, however, are more challenging. In particular, the paper will focus on the challenges of doing fast (50 Hz) guiding with 30 mas repeatability using the object being observed as a reference and on thermally stabilizing a large optical bench to a very high precision (~1 mK).μ

Maunakea spectroscopic explorer design development from feasibility concept to baseline design

The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer is designed to be the largest non-ELT optical/NIR astronomical telescope, and will be a fully dedicated facility for multi-object spectroscopy over a broad range of spectral resolutions. The MSE design has progressed from feasibility concept into its current baseline design where the system configuration of main systems such as telescope, enclosure, summit facilities and instrument are fully defined. This paper will describe the engineering development of the main systems, and discuss the trade studies to determine the optimal telescope and multiplexing designs and how their findings are incorporated in the current baseline design.

GRACES: Gemini remote access to CFHT ESPaDOnS spectrograph through the longest astronomical fiber ever made: experimental phase completed

The Gemini Remote Access to CFHT ESPaDONS Spectrograph has achieved first light of its experimental phase in May 2014. It successfully collected light from the Gemini North telescope and sent it through two 270 m optical fibers to the the ESPaDOnS spectrograph at CFHT to deliver high-resolution spectroscopy across the optical region. The fibers gave an average focal ratio degradation of 14% on sky, and a maximum transmittance of 85% at 800nm. GRACES achieved delivering spectra with a resolution power of R = 40,000 and R = 66,000 between 400 and 1,000 nm. It has a ~8% throughput and is sensitive to target fainter than 21st mag in 1 hour. The average acquisition time of a target is around 10 min. This project is a great example of a productive collaboration between two observatories on Maunakea that was successful due to the reciprocal involvement of the Gemini, CFHT, and NRC Herzberg teams, and all the staff involved closely or indirectly.

Application of systems engineering concepts in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Observatory automation project

In 2007, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) undertook a project to enable the remote control of the observatory at the summit of Mauna Kea from a control room in the Headquarters building in Waimea. Instead of having two people operating the telescope and performing the observations from the summit, this project will allow one operator to remotely control the observatory and perform observations for the night. It is not possible to have one person operate from the summit, as our Two Person Rule requires at least two people for work at the summit for safety reasons. This paper will describe how systems engineering concepts have shaped the design of the project structure and execution.

On-sky results with the fast guiding system on the SPIRou spectroplarimeter at CFHT

SPIRou (SpectroPolarimètre Infra-Rouge in French), is a near-infrared, fiber-fed spectropolarimeter at the CanadaFrance-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which gives full spectral coverage from 0.98 to 2.35 μm with a resolving power of 70,000. The main science drivers for SPIRou are (i) detecting and characterizing exoplanets around nearby M dwarfs through high-precision (1 m/s) velocimetry, and (ii) investigating the impact of magnetic fields on star/planet formation through spectropolarimetry. One of the requirements for achieving this challenging radial velocity (RV) precision is ensuring that the observed star does not move with respect to the instrument entrance aperture by more than 0.05 arcseconds RMS over the course of the observation. This is complicated by the fact that the guiding uses light from the science target so that only about 13% of the light (10% from the wings and 3% from the core) is available in seeing conditions of 0.65 arc-seconds in H band. To achieve this level of guiding accuracy, a fast guiding system has been implemented in the injection module of the instrument. This paper describes the system, its performance in tests on the sky with the CFHT since the delivery of SPIRou in January 2018, and gives comparisons to laboratory measurements and simulations.

Infrared guiding with faint stars with the wide-field infrared camera at CFHT

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) is commissioning a new Wide field Infrared Camera (WIRCam) that uses a mosaic of 4 HAWAII-2RG near- infrared detectors manufactured by Rockwell. At the heart of the instrument is an On-Chip Guiding System (OCGS) that exploits the unique parallel science/guide frame readout capability of the HAWAII-2RG detectors. A small sub sample of each array is continuously read at a rate of up to 50 Hz while the integration of the science image is ongoing with the full arrays (read at a maximal rate of 1.4 s per full frame). Each of these guiding windows is centered on a star to provide an error signal for the telescope guiding. An Image Stabilizer Unit (ISU) (i.e. a tip-tilt silica plate), provides the corrections. A Proportional Integral Differential (PID) closed loop controls the ISU such that telescope tracking is corrected at a rate of 5 Hz. This paper presents the technical architecture of the guiding system and performance measurements on the sky in engineering runs with WIRCam with faint stars up to magnitude 14.

Upgrade of the CFHT closed-cycle heat-rejection process

CFHT currently removes heat from the Closed-Cycle Cold Heads of the telescope prime focus instruments, MegaPrime (Wide-Field Optical Imager) and WIRCam (Wide-Field Infrared Camera) by using water-cooled Helium Compressors which provide gas transfer characteristics allowing the dewars to achieve Cryogenic Temperatures. In addition, CFHT uses air-cooled Compressor Units to provide Closed-Cycle cooling for their telescope Cassegrain instrument, SITELLE (Optical imaging Fourier transform spectrometer). With the addition of a new instrument at the end of 2017, SPIRou (near-infrared spectropolarimeter); an upgrade to the Closed-Cycle cooling system was required to remove the extra 10 kW of heat. Therefore the decision to design and develop a more efficient and less complicated cooling system was pursued. The initial concepts were incorporated from Chas Cavedoni of the GEMINI Observatory, the master mind behind their ambient air cooling system. The cool ambient temperatures experienced year round on Mauna Kea (+4° C to +21° C), coupled with the relatively warm (+10° C to +32° C) cooling water required by the Helium Compressor Units; lends itself to a much simpler and less expensive Fluid-Cooling system which essentially utilizes a glorified Radiator (Heat Exchanger). This paper shall describe the Design Considerations, System Design, and System Performance of this new cooling method and share the lessons learned from this innovative concept. This new design will not only provide cooling for the additional 10 kW introduced by SPIRou, but also handle the existing 10 kW (MegaPrime and WIRCam) currently being removed by stand-alone Refrigeration Chillers. An additional 10kW capacity has been incorporated into the new system to provide cooling for future expansion, which ultimately results in a Fluid Cooling System capable of removing a 30 kW heat load.

Observatory software for the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope is currently in the conceptual design phase to redevelop its facility into the new Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE). MSE is designed to be the largest non-ELT optical/NIR astronomical telescope, and will be a fully dedicated facility for multi-object spectroscopy over a broad range of spectral resolutions. This paper outlines the software and control architecture envisioned for the new facility. The architecture will be designed around much of the existing software infrastructure currently used at CFHT as well as the latest proven opensource software. CFHT plans to minimize risk and development time by leveraging existing technology.

Upgrading, monitoring and operation of a dome drive system

CFHT’s decision to move away from classical observing prompted the development of a remote observing environment aimed at producing science observations from headquarters facility in Waimea, HI. This remote observing project commonly referred to as the Observatory Automation Project (OAP ) was completed at the end of January 2011 and has been providing the majority of science data ever since. A comprehensive feasibility study was conducted to determine the options available to achieve remote operations of the observatory dome drive system. After evaluation, the best option was to upgrade the original hydraulic system to utilize variable frequency drive (VFD) technology. The project upgraded the hydraulic drive system, which initially utilized a hydraulic power unit and three (3) identical drive units to rotate the dome. The new electric drive system replaced the hydraulic power unit with electric motor controllers, and each drive unit reuses the original drive and swaps one for one the original hydraulic motors with an electric motor. The motor controllers provide status and monitoring parameters for each drive unit which convey the functionality and health of the system. This paper will discuss the design upgrades to the dome drive rotation system, as well as some benefits, control, energy savings, and monitoring.