PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the Subaru telescope, is a very wide- field, massively multiplexed, and optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed in the 1.3 degree-diameter field of view. The spectrograph system has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared cameras to simultaneously deliver spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure. The instrumentation has been conducted by the international collaboration managed by the project office hosted by Kavli IPMU. The team is actively integrating and testing the hardware and software of the subsystems some of which such as Metrology Camera System, the first Spectrograph Module, and the first on-telescope fiber cable have been delivered to the Subaru telescope observatory at the summit of Maunakea since 2018. The development is progressing in order to start on-sky engineering observation in 2021, and science operation in 2023. In parallel, the collaboration is trying to timely develop a plan of large-sky survey observation to be proposed and conducted in the framework of Subaru Strategic Program (SSP). This article gives an overview of the recent progress, current status and future perspectives of the instrumentation and scientific operation.
PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, is a very wide-field, massively multiplexed, optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed over the 1.3 deg field of view. The spectrograph has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared cameras to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure at a resolution of ~ 1.6-2.7Å. An international collaboration is developing this instrument under the initiative of Kavli IPMU. The project recently started undertaking the commissioning process of a subsystem at the Subaru Telescope side, with the integration and test processes of the other subsystems ongoing in parallel. We are aiming to start engineering night-sky operations in 2019, and observations for scientific use in 2021. This article gives an overview of the instrument, current project status and future paths forward.
Establishing improved spectrophotometric standards is important for a broad range of missions and is relevant to many astrophysical problems. ACCESS, “Absolute Color Calibration Experiment for Standard Stars”, is a series of rocket-borne sub-orbital missions and ground-based experiments designed to enable improvements in the precision of the astrophysical flux scale through the transfer of absolute laboratory detector standards from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to a network of stellar standards with a calibration accuracy of 1% and a spectral resolving power of 500 across the 0.35 − 1.7μm bandpass. This paper describes the sub-system testing, payload integration, avionics operations, and data transfer for the ACCESS instrument.
PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, is a very wide-field, massively multiplexed, optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed over the 1.3 deg field of view. The spectrograph has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared cameras to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure at a resolution of ~1.6 - 2.7Å. An international collaboration is developing this instrument under the initiative of Kavli IPMU. The project is now going into the construction phase aiming at undertaking system integration in 2017-2018 and subsequently carrying out engineering operations in 2018-2019. This article gives an overview of the instrument, current project status and future paths forward.
The Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) is an optical/near-infrared multifiber spectrograph with 2394 science fibers distributed across a 1.3-deg diameter field of view at the Subaru 8.2-m telescope. The wide wavelength coverage from 0.38 μm to 1.26 μm, with a resolving power of 3000, simultaneously strengthens its ability to target three main survey programs: cosmology, galactic archaeology and galaxy/AGN evolution. A medium resolution mode with a resolving power of 5000 for 0.71 μm to 0.89 μm will also be available by simply exchanging dispersers. We highlight some of the technological aspects of the design. To transform the telescope focal ratio, a broad-band coated microlens is glued to each fiber tip. A higher transmission fiber is selected for the longest part of the cable system, optimizing overall throughput; a fiber with low focal ratio degradation is selected for the fiber-positioner and fiber-slit components, minimizing the effects of fiber movements and fiber bending. Fiber positioning will be performed by a positioner consisting of two stages of piezo-electric rotary motors. The positions of these motors are measured by taking an image of artificially back-illuminated fibers with the metrology camera located in the Cassegrain container; the fibers are placed in the proper location by iteratively measuring and then adjusting the positions of the motors. Target light reaches one of the four identical fast-Schmidt spectrograph modules, each with three arms. The PFS project has passed several project-wide design reviews and is now in the construction phase.
The Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) is an optical/near-infrared multi-fiber spectrograph with 2394 science fibers, which
are distributed in 1.3 degree diameter field of view at Subaru 8.2-meter telescope. The simultaneous wide wavelength
coverage from 0.38 μm to 1.26 μm, with the resolving power of 3000, strengthens its ability to target three main survey
programs: cosmology, Galactic archaeology, and galaxy/AGN evolution. A medium resolution mode with resolving
power of 5000 for 0.71 μm to 0.89 μm also will be available by simply exchanging dispersers. PFS takes the role for the
spectroscopic part of the Subaru Measurement of Images and Redshifts (SuMIRe) project, while Hyper Suprime-Cam
(HSC) works on the imaging part. HSC’s excellent image qualities have proven the high quality of the Wide Field
Corrector (WFC), which PFS shares with HSC. The PFS collaboration has succeeded in the project Preliminary Design
Review and is now in a phase of subsystem Critical Design Reviews and construction.
To transform the telescope plus WFC focal ratio, a 3-mm thick broad-band coated microlens is glued to each fiber tip.
The microlenses are molded glass, providing uniform lens dimensions and a variety of refractive-index selection. After
successful production of mechanical and optical samples, mass production is now complete. Following careful
investigations including Focal Ratio Degradation (FRD) measurements, a higher transmission fiber is selected for the
longest part of cable system, while one with a better FRD performance is selected for the fiber-positioner and fiber-slit
components, given the more frequent fiber movements and tightly curved structure. Each Fiber positioner consists of two
stages of piezo-electric rotary motors. Its engineering model has been produced and tested. After evaluating the statistics
of positioning accuracies, collision avoidance software, and interferences (if any) within/between electronics boards,
mass production will commence. Fiber positioning will be performed iteratively by taking an image of artificially back-illuminated
fibers with the Metrology camera located in the Cassegrain container. The camera is carefully designed so
that fiber position measurements are unaffected by small amounts of high special-frequency inaccuracies in WFC lens
surface shapes.
Target light carried through the fiber system reaches one of four identical fast-Schmidt spectrograph modules, each with
three arms. All optical glass blanks are now being polished. Prototype VPH gratings have been optically tested. CCD
production is complete, with standard fully-depleted CCDs for red arms and more-challenging thinner fully-depleted
CCDs with blue-optimized coating for blue arms. The active damping system against cooler vibration has been proven to
work as predicted, and spectrographs have been designed to avoid small possible residual resonances.
We describe the conceptual design of the camera cryostats, detectors, and detector readout electronics for the SuMIRe
Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) being developed for the Subaru telescope. The SuMIRe PFS will consist of four
identical spectrographs, each receiving 600 fibers from a 2400 fiber robotic positioner at the prime focus. Each
spectrograph will have three channels covering wavelength ranges 3800 Å - 6700 Å, 6500 Å - 10000 Å, and 9700 Å -
13000 Å, with the dispersed light being imaged in each channel by a f/1.10 vacuum Schmidt camera. In the blue and red
channels a pair of Hamamatsu 2K x 4K edge-buttable CCDs with 15 um pixels are used to form a 4K x 4K array. For
the IR channel, the new Teledyne 4K x 4K, 15 um pixel, mercury-cadmium-telluride sensor with substrate removed for
short-wavelength response and a 1.7 um cutoff will be used. Identical detector geometry and a nearly identical optical
design allow for a common cryostat design with the only notable difference being the need for a cold radiation shield in
the IR camera to mitigate thermal background. This paper describes the details of the cryostat design and cooling
scheme, relevant thermal considerations and analysis, and discusses the detectors and detector readout electronics.
The Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) of the Subaru Measurement of Images and Redshifts (SuMIRe) project has been
endorsed by Japanese community as one of the main future instruments of the Subaru 8.2-meter telescope at Mauna Kea,
Hawaii. This optical/near-infrared multi-fiber spectrograph targets cosmology with galaxy surveys, Galactic archaeology,
and studies of galaxy/AGN evolution.
Taking advantage of Subaru’s wide field of view, which is further extended with the recently completed Wide Field
Corrector, PFS will enable us to carry out multi-fiber spectroscopy of 2400 targets within 1.3 degree diameter. A
microlens is attached at each fiber entrance for F-ratio transformation into a larger one so that difficulties of spectrograph design are eased. Fibers are accurately placed onto target positions by positioners, each of which consists of two stages
of piezo-electric rotary motors, through iterations by using back-illuminated fiber position measurements with a widefield
metrology camera. Fibers then carry light to a set of four identical fast-Schmidt spectrographs with three color arms
each: the wavelength ranges from 0.38 μm to 1.3 μm will be simultaneously observed with an average resolving power
of 3000.
Before and during the era of extremely large telescopes, PFS will provide the unique capability of obtaining spectra of
2400 cosmological/astrophysical targets simultaneously with an 8-10 meter class telescope. The PFS collaboration, led
by IPMU, consists of USP/LNA in Brazil, Caltech/JPL, Princeton, and JHU in USA, LAM in France, ASIAA in Taiwan,
and NAOJ/Subaru.
We present a conceptual design for a moderate resolution optical spectrograph for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT).
The spectrograph is designed to make use of the large field-of-view of the GMT and be suitable for observations of very
faint objects across a wide range of optical wavelengths. We show some details of the optical and mechanical design of
the instrument.
The James Webb Space Telescope will undergo a full system test in the cryogenic vacuum chamber A at the Johnson
Spaceflight Center in order to verify the overall performance of the combined telescope and instrument suite. This will
be the largest and most extensive cryogenic test ever undertaken. Early in the test system development, it was
determined that precise position measurements of the overall hardware would enhance the test results. Various concepts
were considered before selecting photogrammetry for this metrology. Photogrammetry has been used in space systems
for decades, however cryogenic use combined with the size and the optical/thermal sensitivity of JWST creates a unique
set of implementation challenges. This paper provides an overview of the JWST photogrammetric system and mitigation
strategies for three key engineering design challenges: 1) the thermal design of the viewing windows to prevent
excessive heat leak and stray light to the test article 2) cost effective motors and mechanisms to provide the angle
diversity required, and 3) camera-flash life and reliability sufficient for inaccessible use during the number and duration
of the cryogenic tests.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a general astrophysics mission which consists of a 6.6m diameter,
segmented, deployable telescope for cryogenic IR space astronomy (~35K). The JWST Observatory architecture
includes the Optical Telescope Element and the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) element that contains four
science instruments (SI) including a Guider.
The alignment philosophy of ISIM is such that the cryogenic changes in the alignment of the SI interfaces are captured in
the ISIM alignment error budget. The SIs are aligned to the structure's coordinate system under ambient, clean room
conditions using laser tracker and theodolite metrology. The ISIM structure is thermally cycled and temperature-induced
structural changes are concurrently measured with a photogrammetry metrology system to ensure they are within
requirements.
We compare the ISIM photogrammetry system performance to the ISIM metrology requirements and describe the
cryogenic data acquired to verify photogrammetry system level requirements, including measurement uncertainty. The
ISIM photogrammetry system is the baseline concept for future tests involving the Optical Telescope Element (OTE) and
Observatory level testing at Johnson Space Flight Center.
The WIYN High Resolution Infrared Camera (WHIRC) has been a general-use instrument at the WIYN telescope on
Kitt Peak since 2008. WHIRC is a near-infrared (0.8 - 2.5 μm) camera with a filter complement of J, H, Ks broadband
and 10 narrowband filters, utilizing a 2048 × 2048 HgCdTe array from Raytheon's VIRGO line, developed for the
VISTA project. The compact on-axis refractive optical design makes WHIRC the smallest near-IR camera with this
capability. WHIRC is installed on the WIYN Tip-Tilt Module (WTTM) port and can achieve near diffraction-limited
imaging with a FWHM of ~0.25 arcsec at Ks with active WTTM correction and routinely delivers ~0.6 arcsec FWHM
images without WTTM correction. During its first year of general use operation at WIYN, WHIRC has been used for
high definition near-infrared imaging studies of a wide range of astronomical phenomena including star formation
regions, stellar populations and interstellar medium in nearby galaxies, high-z galaxies and transient phenomena. We
discuss performance and data reduction issues such as distortion, pupil ghost, and fringe removal and the development of
new tools for the observing community such as an exposure time calculator and data reduction pipeline.
The On-board Calibration Monitor (OCM) is being developed as an integral component of the ACCESS instrument
and as a pathfinder for other missions. It provides stable full-aperture illumination of the telescope for
tracking the instrument sensitivity as a function of time. The light source is composed of an ensemble of LED
pairs with central wavelengths that span the spectral range of the instrument and illuminate a diffuser that is
observed by the full optical path. Feedback stabilization of the light source intensity is achieved by photodiode
monitoring of each LED. This stable source will provide real time knowledge of the ACCESS sensitivity throughout
the 5-year duration of the program. The present status of the design and laboratory evaluation of the OCM
system will be presented.
The FourStar infrared camera is a 1.0-2.5 μm (JHKs) near infrared camera for the Magellan Baade
6.5m telescope at Las Campanas Observatory (Chile). It is being built by Carnegie Observatories and
the Instrument Development Group and is scheduled for completion in 2009. The instrument uses four
Teledyne HAWAII-2RG arrays that produce a 10.9' × 10.9' field of view. The outstanding seeing at the
Las Campanas site coupled with FourStar's high sensitivity and large field of view will enable many
new survey and targeted science programs.
We present the design overview and on-telescope performance of the WIYN High Resolution Infrared Camera
(WHIRC). As a dedicated near-infrared (0.8-2.5 μm) camera on the WIYN Tip-Tilt Module (WTTM), WHIRC will
provide near diffraction-limited imaging with a typical FWHM of ~0.25". WHIRC uses a 2048 x 2048 HgCdTe array
from Raytheon's VIRGO line, which is a spinoff from the VISTA project. The WHIRC filter complement includes J, H
KS, and 10 narrowband filters. WHIRC's compact design makes it the smallest near-IR camera with this capability. We
determine a gain of 3.8 electrons ADU-1 via a photon transfer analysis and a readout noise of ~27 electrons. A measured
dark current of 0.23 electrons s-1 indicates that the cryostat is extremely light tight. A plate scale of 0.098" pixel-1 results
in a field of view (FOV) of ~3' x 3', which is a compromise between the highest angular resolution achievable and the
largest FOV correctable by WTTM. Measured throughput values (~0.33 in H-band) are consistent with those predicted
for WHIRC based on an elemental analysis. WHIRC was delivered to WIYN in July 2007 and was opened for shared
risk use in Spring 2008. WHIRC will be a facility instrument at the WIYN telescope enabling high definition near-infrared
imaging studies of a wide range of astronomical phenomena including star formation regions, proto-planetary
disks, stellar populations and interstellar medium in nearby galaxies, and supernova and gamma-ray burst searches.
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