Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

SpeX: A Medium‐Resolution 0.8–5.5 Micron Spectrograph and Imager for the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility

2003; Institute of Physics; Volume: 115; Issue: 805 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1086/367745

1538-3873

John Rayner, Douglas W. Toomey, Peter M. Onaka, Anthony J. Denault, Werner E. Stahlberger, William D. Vacca, Michael C. Cushing, S. Wang,

Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies

We present the design, construction, and performance of SpeX, a medium‐resolution 0.8–5.5 μm cryogenic spectrograph and imager, now in operation at the 3.0 m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea. The design uses prism cross‐dispersers and gratings to provide resolving powers up to R∼2000 simultaneously across 0.8–2.4, 1.9–4.2, or 2.4–5.5 μm, with a 15'' long slit. A high‐throughput low‐resolution R∼200 prism mode is also provided for faint‐object and occultation spectroscopy. Single‐order 60'' long‐slit modes with resolving powers up to R∼2000 are available for extended objects. The spectrograph employs an Aladdin 3 1024 × 1024 InSb array and uses narrow slits and a spatial scale of 015 pixel -1 for optimum sensitivity on point sources. An autonomous infrared slit viewer is used for object acquisition, infrared guiding, and scientific imaging in the wavelength range 0.8–5.5 μm. The imager employs an Aladdin 2 512 × 512 InSb array that covers a 60'' × 60'' field of view at 012 pixel -1. SpeX was successfully commissioned on IRTF during 2000 May, June, and July. Astronomical observations are presented to illustrate performance.