HISPEC is a new, high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph being designed for the W.M. Keck II telescope. By offering single-shot, R 100,000 spectroscopy between 0.98 – 2.5 μm, HISPEC will enable spectroscopy of transiting and non-transiting exoplanets in close orbits, direct high-contrast detection and spectroscopy of spatially separated substellar companions, and exoplanet dynamical mass and orbit measurements using precision radial velocity monitoring calibrated with a suite of state-of-the-art absolute and relative wavelength references. MODHIS is the counterpart to HISPEC for the Thirty Meter Telescope and is being developed in parallel with similar scientific goals. In this proceeding, we provide a brief overview of the current design of both instruments, and the requirements for the two spectrographs as guided by the scientific goals for each. We then outline the current science case for HISPEC and MODHIS, with focuses on the science enabled for exoplanet discovery and characterization. We also provide updated sensitivity curves for both instruments, in terms of both signal-to-noise ratio and predicted radial velocity precision.
We present here SPECULOOS, a new exoplanet transit search based on a network of 1m-class robotic telescopes targeting the ~1200 ultracool (spectral type M7 and later) dwarfs bright enough in the infrared (K-mag ≤ 12.5) to possibly enable the atmospheric characterization of temperate terrestrial planets with next-generation facilities like the James Webb Space Telescope. The ultimate goals of the project are to reveal the frequency of temperate terrestrial planets around the lowest-mass stars and brown dwarfs, to probe the diversity of their bulk compositions, atmospheres and surface conditions, and to assess their potential habitability.
We present a new and innovative near-infrared multi-band ultraprecise spectroimager (NIMBUS) for SOFIA. This design is capable of characterizing a large sample of extrasolar planet atmospheres by measuring elemental and molecular abundances during primary transit and occultation. This wide-field spectroimager would also provide new insights into Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNO), Solar System occultations, brown dwarf atmospheres, carbon chemistry in globular clusters, chemical gradients in nearby galaxies, and galaxy photometric redshifts. NIMBUS would be the premier ultraprecise spectroimager by taking advantage of the SOFIA observatory and state of the art infrared technologies.
This optical design splits the beam into eight separate spectral bandpasses, centered around key molecular bands from 1 to 4μm. Each spectral channel has a wide field of view for simultaneous observations of a reference star that can decorrelate time-variable atmospheric and optical assembly effects, allowing the instrument to achieve ultraprecise calibration for imaging and photometry for a wide variety of astrophysical sources. NIMBUS produces the same data products as a low-resolution integral field spectrograph over a large spectral bandpass, but this design obviates many of the problems that preclude high-precision measurements with traditional slit and integral field spectrographs. This instrument concept is currently not funded for development.
We describe the construction and commissioning of FIRE, a new 0.8-2.5μm echelle spectrometer for the Magellan/
Baade 6.5 meter telescope. FIRE delivers continuous spectra over its full bandpass with nominal spectral
resolution R = 6000. Additionally it offers a longslit mode dispersed by the prisms alone, covering the full z to
K bands at R ~ 350. FIRE was installed at Magellan in March 2010 and is now performing shared-risk science
observations. It is delivering sharp image quality and its throughput is sufficient to allow early observations of
high redshift quasars and faint brown dwarfs. This paper outlines several of the new or unique design choices
we employed in FIRE's construction, as well as early returns from its on-sky performance.
FIRE (the Folded-port InfraRed Echellette) is a prism cross-dispersed infrared spectrometer, designed to deliver singleobject
R=6000 spectra over the 0.8-2.5 micron range, simultaneously. It will be installed at one of the auxiliary
Nasmyth foci of the Magellan 6.5-meter telescopes. FIRE employs a network of ZnSe and Infrasil prisms, coupled with
an R1 reflection grating, to image 21 diffraction orders onto a 2048 × 2048, HAWAII-2RG focal plane array.
Optionally, a user-controlled turret may be rotated to replace the reflection grating with a mirror, resulting in a singleorder,
longslit spectrum with R ~ 1000. A separate, cold infrared sensor will be used for object acquisition and guiding.
Both detectors will be controlled by cryogenically mounted SIDECAR ASICs. The availability of low-noise detectors
motivates our choice of spectral resolution, which was expressly optimized for Magellan by balancing the scientific
demand for increased R with practical limits on exposure times (taking into account statistics on seeing conditions).
This contribution describes that analysis, as well as FIRE's optical and opto-mechanical design, and the design and
implementation of cryogenic mechanisms. Finally, we will discuss our data-flow model, and outline strategies we are
putting in place to facilitate data reduction and analysis.
The NIRSPEC Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey is a project to obtain a consistent set of high-quality near-IR spectra for each spectral class and sub-class of low-mass and/or sub- stellar objects to provide a new data base for models of the atmosphere of brown dwarfs and extra-solar giant planets. Most of the current targets are L-dwarfs and T-dwarfs discovered by the 2MASS. The survey is begin performed with the recently-commissioned near-IR spectrometer, NIRSPEC, a 1-5 micrometers cryogenic spectrograph at the WM Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, using resolving powers of R equals 2,500-25,000. Preliminary results for four sources, three L-dwarfs and one T-dwarf, are presented here. Spectra from 1.13-2.33 micrometers at an average resolution of R equals 2,500 illustrate the development of deep steam bands and the weakening of FeH through the L-sequence, and the emergence of methane bands in the T-dwarfs. Complex detail in the spectra are the result of blending of numerous unresolved molecular transitions.
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