No Arabic abstract
In this paper we present the Australian Astronomical Observatorys concept design for Sphinx - a fiber positioned with 4332 spines on a 7.77mm pitch for CFHTs Mauna Kea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) Telescope. Based on the Echidna technology used with FMOS (on Subaru) and 4MOST (on VISTA), the next evolution of the tilting spine design delivers improved performance and superior allocation efficiency. Several prototypes have been constructed that demonstrate the suitability of the new design for MSE. Results of prototype testing are presented, along with an analysis of the impact of tilting spines on the overall survey efficiency. The Sphinx fiber positioned utilizes a novel metrology system for spine position feedback. The metrology design and the careful considerations required to achieve reliable, high accuracy measurements of all fibres in a realistic telescope environment are also presented.
We present a concept for a 4000-fibre positioner for DESpec, based on the Echidna tilting spine technology. The DESpec focal plane is 450mm across and curved, and the required pitch is ~6.75mm. The size, number of fibers and curvature are all comparable with various concept studies for similar instruments already undertaken at the AAO, but present new challenges in combination. A simple, low-cost, and highly modular design is presented, consisting of identical modules populated by identical spines. No show-stopping issues in accommodating either the curvature or the smaller pitch have been identified, and the actuators consist largely of off-the-shelf components. The actuators have been prototyped at AAO, and allow reconfiguration times of ~15s to reach position errors 7 microns or less. Straightforward designs for metrology, acquisition, and guiding are also proposed. The throughput losses of the entire positioner system are estimated to be ~15%, of which 6.3% is attributable to the tilting-spine technology.
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 {mu}m to 1.26 {mu}m, 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 {mu}m to 0.89 {mu}m 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.
We present two novel designs for a telescope suitable for massively-multiplexed spectroscopy. The first is a very wide field Cassegrain telescope optimised for fibre feeding. It provides a Field Of View (FOV) of 2.5 degrees diameter with a 10m primary mirror. It is telecentric and works at F/3, optimal for fibre injection. As an option, a gravity invariant focus for the central 10 arc-minutes can be added, to host, for instance, a giant integral field unit (IFU). It has acceptable performance in the 360-1300 nm wavelength range. The second concept is an innovative five mirror telescope design based on a Three Mirror Anastigmatic (TMA) concept. The design provides a large FOV in a convenient, gravity- invariant focal plane, and is scalable to a range of telescope diameters. As specific example, we present a 10m telescope with a 1.5 degree diameter FOV and a relay system that allows simultaneous spectroscopy with 10,000 mini-IFUs over a square degree, or, alternatively a 17.5 square arcminutes giant IFU, by using 240 MUSE-type spectrographs. We stress the importance of developing the telescope and instrument designs for both cases.
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 um to 1.26 um, 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 um to 0.89 um also will be available by simply exchanging dispersers. PFS takes the role for the spectroscopic part of the Subaru Measurement of Images and Redshifts project, while Hyper Suprime-Cam works on the imaging part. To transform the telescope plus WFC focal ratio, a 3-mm thick broad-band coated glass-molded microlens is glued to each fiber tip. 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. 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. 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 Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction to measure the expansion history of the Universe using the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation technique. The spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over 14000 sq deg will be measured during the life of the experiment. A new prime focus corrector for the KPNO Mayall telescope will deliver light to 5000 fiber optic positioners. The fibers in turn feed ten broad-band spectrographs. We will describe the production and manufacturing processes developed for the 5000 fiber positioner robots mounted on the focal plane of the Mayall telescope.