The Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) is one of three science instruments on the Spitzer Space Telescope. The IRS comprises four separate spectrograph modules covering the wavelength range from 5.3 to 38 m with spectral resolutions, R ¼ k=Ák % 90 and 600, and it was optimized to take full advantage of the very low background in the space environment. The IRS is performing at or better than the prelaunch predictions. An autonomous target acquisition capability enables the IRS to locate the mid-infrared centroid of a source, providing the information so that the spacecraft can accurately offset that centroid to a selected slit. This feature is particularly useful when taking spectra of sources with poorly known coordinates. An automated data-reduction pipeline has been developed at the Spitzer Science Center.
We describe Cornell's near-infrared camera system PHARO (Palomar High Angular Resolution Observer) built for use with the JPL Palomar Adaptive Optics System on the 5 m Hale telescope. PHARO uses a HgCdTe HAWAII detector for observations between 1 and 2.5 mm wavelength. An all-reflecting 1024 # 1024 optical system provides diffraction-limited images at two scales, 25 and 40 mas pixel Ϫ1 , plus a pupil imaging mode. PHARO also has a coronagraphic imaging capability and a long-slit grism spectroscopy mode at resolving power ≈1500. The instrument has been in use with the AO system at Palomar since early 1998.
The Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) is one of three science instruments on the Spitzer Space Telescope. The IRS comprises four separate spectrograph modules covering the wavelength range from 5.3 to 38 µm with spectral resolutions, R = λ/∆λ ∼ 90 and 600, and it was optimized to take full advantage of the very low background in the space environment. The IRS is performing at or better than the pre-launch predictions. An autonomous target acquisition capability enables the IRS to locate the mid-infrared centroid of a source, providing the information so that the spacecraft can accurately offset that centroid to a selected slit. This feature is particularly useful when taking spectra of sources with poorly known coordinates. An automated data reduction pipeline has been developed at the Spitzer Science Center.
The availability of both large aperture telescopes and large format near-infrared (NIR) detectors are making wide-field NIR imaging a reality. We describe the Wide-field Infrared Camera (WIRC), a newly commissioned instrument that provides the Palomar 200-inch telescope with such an imaging capability. WIRC features a field-of-view (FOV) of 4.33 arcminutes on a side with its currently installed 1024-square Rockwell Hawaii-I NIR detector. A 2048-square Rockwell Hawaii-II NIR detector will be installed and commissioned later this year, in collaboration with Caltech, to give WIRC an 8.7 arcminute FOV on a side. WIRC mounts at the telescope's f/3.3 prime focus. The instrument's seeing-limited optical design, optimized for the JHK atmospheric bands, includes a 4-element refractive collimator, two 7-position filter wheels that straddle a Lyot stop, and a 5-element refractive f/3 camera. Typical seeing-limited point spread functions are slightly oversampled with a 0.25 arcsec per pixel plate scale at the detector. The entire optical train is contained within a cryogenic dewar with a 2.5 day hold-time. Entrance hatches at the top of the dewar allow access to the detector without disruption of the optics and optical alignment. The optical, mechanical, cryogenic, and electronic design of the instrument are described, a commissioning science image and performance analyses are presented.
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