Adaptive Optics as a new tool for astronomical observation has proved a powerful means of investigation in high angular resolution programs. However, in spite of the complexity of the components involved (wavefront sensor, real-time computer) , its use must be made as simple as possible in order to make it accessible to the largest audience of observers, and to answer the more demanding needs of modern observatories such as queue scheduling, service observing or remote observing. The Computer Aided Control (CAC) developed for the Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System (NAOS) of the Very Large Telescope (VLT), will provide the astronomer with an extensive support, from the preparation of optimized observations to the automated operation of the instrument at the telescope either for hardware control, real time computing, or even preventive maintenance.
MEGARA (Multi-Espectrógrafo en GTC de Alta Resolución para Astronomía)is an optical Integral-Field Unit (IFU) and Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) designed for the GTC 10.4m telescope in La Palma. MEGARA offers two IFU fiber bundles, one covering 12.5x11.3 arcsec 2 with a spaxel size of 0.62 arcsec (Large Compact Bundle; LCB) and another one covering 8.5x6.7 arcsec 2 with a spaxel size of 0.42 arcsec (Small Compact Bundle; SCB). The MEGARA MOS mode will allow observing up to 100 objects in a region of 3.5x3.5 arcmin 2 around the two IFU bundles.Both the LCB IFU and MOS capabilities of MEGARA will provide intermediate-to-high spectral resolutions (R FWHM~6 ,000, 12,000 and 18,700, respectively for the low-, mid-and high-resolution Volume Phase Holographic gratings) in the range 3650-9700ÅÅ. These values become R FWHM~7 ,000, 13,500, and 21,500 when the SCB is used.A mechanism placed at the pseudo-slit position allows exchanging the three observing modes and also acts as focusing mechanism. The spectrograph is a collimator-camera system that has a total of 11 VPHs simultaneously available (out of the 18 VPHs designed and being built) that are placed in the pupil by means of a wheel and an insertion mechanism. The custom-made cryostat hosts an E2V231-84 4kx4k CCD.The UCM (Spain) leads the MEGARA Consortium that also includes INAOE (Mexico), IAA-CSIC (Spain), and UPM (Spain). MEGARA is being developed under a contract between GRANTECAN and UCM. The detailed design, construction and AIV phases are now funded and the instrument should be delivered to GTC before the end of 2016.
MEGARA (Multi-Espectrógrafo en GTC de Alta Resolución para Astronomía) is an optical Integral-Field Unit (IFU)and Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) designed for the GTC 10.4m telescope in La Palma that is being built by a Consortium led by UCM (Spain) that also includes INAOE (Mexico), IAA-CSIC (Spain), and UPM (Spain). The instrument is currently finishing AIV and will be sent to GTC on November 2016 for its on-sky commissioning on April 2017. The MEGARA IFU fiber bundle (LCB) covers 12.5x11.3 arcsec 2 with a spaxel size of 0.62 arcsec while the MEGARA MOS mode allows observing up to 92 objects in a region of 3.5x3.5 arcmin 2 around the IFU.The IFU and MOS modes of MEGARA will provide identical intermediate-to-high spectral resolutions (R FWHM~6 ,000, 12,000 and 18,700, respectively for the low-, mid-and high-resolution Volume Phase Holographic gratings) in the range 3700-9800ÅÅ. An x-y mechanism placed at the pseudo-slit position allows (1) exchanging between the two observing modes and (2) focusing the spectrograph for each VPH setup. The spectrograph is a collimator-camera system that has a total of 11 VPHs simultaneously available (out of the 18 VPHs designed and being built) that are placed in the pupil by means of a wheel and an insertion mechanism. The custom-made cryostat hosts a 4kx4k 15-μm CCD. The unique characteristics of MEGARA in terms of throughput and versatility and the unsurpassed collecting are of GTC make of this instrument the most efficient tool to date to analyze astrophysical objects at intermediate spectral resolutions.In these proceedings we present a summary of the instrument characteristics and the results from the AIV phase. All subsystems have been successfully integrated and the system-level AIV phase is progressing as expected.
MEGARA is an IFU & MOS medium-resolution spectrograph that finished its commissioning at the GTC 10m telescope on August 2017. MEGARA is a fiber-fed high-resolution spectrograph with two major units, Fiber-MOS & Spectrograph, that are now located at the Folded-Cass F and Nasmyth-A foci of GTC respectively. These are linked by more than 1200 fibers 44.5m-length split between two observing modes, the LCB (Integral Field Unit, IFU) and a Multi-Object (MOS) capability with 92 robotic positioners each one provided with a mini-bundle of 7 fibers. The spectrograph can accommodate 18 VPHs (11 of them can be simultaneously mounted) covering the visible wavelength range at Resolving Powers between R=6000-20000. This paper presents the sequence of tasks carried out after Laboratory Acceptance at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid to move the whole instrument to the GTC. A detailed day-to-day plan was followed to disassemble, pack, transport, reintegrate the full instrument at the GTC and to verify performance to ensure the instrument was ready for commissioning. The lessons learnt are relevant to other double-focus instruments being developed such as WEAVE@WHT or PFS@Subaru.
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