The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Design (original) (raw)
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The On-Orbit Performance of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
Astrophysical Journal, 1998
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) was successfully installed into the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 1997 February, during the second HST servicing mission, STS-82. STIS is a versatile spectrograph, covering the 115-1000 nm wavelength range in a variety of spectroscopic and imaging modes that take advantage of the angular resolution, unobstructed wavelength coverage, and dark sky offered by the HST. In the months since launch, a number of performance tests and calibrations have been carried out and are continuing. These tests demonstrate that the instrument is performing very well. We present here a synopsis of the results to date.
Paper Session II-B - Early Results from the Space Telescope Imaging Spectograph
1998
The STIS instrument was installed into HST in February 1997 during the Servicing Mission 2. It has completed checkout and is beginning its science program, and is working well. Several scientific demonstration observations were taken, illustrating some of the range of scientific uses and modes of observation of STIS.
1998
We describe a concept for an imaging spectrograph for a large orbiting observatory such as NASA's proposed Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) based on an imaging Fourier transform spectrograph (IFTS). An IFTS has several important advantages which make it an ideal instrument to pursue the scientific objectives of NGST. We review the operation of an IFTS and make a quantitative evaluation of the signal-to-noise performance of such an instrument in the context of NGST. We consider the relationship between pixel size, spectral resolution, and diameter of the beamsplitter for imaging and non-imaging Fourier transform spectrographs and give the condition required to maintain spectral modulation efficiency over the entire field of view. We give examples of scientific programs that could be performed with this facility.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2003
We present the design, construction, and performance of SpeX, a medium-resolution 0.8-5.5 mm 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 mm, with a 15Љ long slit. A high-throughput low-resolution prism mode is also provided for faint-object and occultation spectroscopy. Single-order 60Љ long-slit R ∼ 200 modes with resolving powers up to are available for extended objects. The spectrograph employs an R ∼ 2000 Aladdin 3
Evaluation of a PtSi Schottky infrared CCD for astronomy
Applied Optics, 1984
This paper presents the results of a preliminary evaluation of a platinum silicide (PtSi) Schottky CCD as an imaging array for astronomical applications. The work was done in the near-infrared (1.2 ,um < X < 2.5 ,um) spectral regime, where there is presently a lack of commercially available panoramic arrays with acceptable performance. During an initial test run, the array detected a star of magnitude 3.5 using an integration time of 128 msec. Proper optimization of the readout electronics, cryostat configuration, and matching of the telescope image scale to the pixel size could allow detection of a source-100 times fainter in a 1-sec integration time. This paper will discuss the array architecture, measurement and signal processing techniques, and the observatory and laboratory evaluation tests.
Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy, 2006
We present a conceptual design for a High Resolution Optical Spectrograph (HROS) for the Thirty Meter Telescope, a 30-m primary aperture ground-based telescope currently under development (www.tmt.org). To decouple downstream optics sizes from the size of the seeing disk and/or AO performance, we use fiber fed IFUs to generate a 0.1" pseudoslit. The use of multiple IFUs instead of a slit also allows for spatially resolved spectroscopy, multi-object spectroscopy, positionable sky sampling, and insertion of a simultaneous wavelength calibration signal into the beam. Instead of a cross-dispersed echelle design, our concept uses a dichroic tree to provide spectral separation. The dichroics feed 32 independent first-order spectrographs that cover the 310 to 1100 nm optical waveband at a nominal spectral resolution of R=100,000. This approach allows for the optimization of coatings and on-blaze grating performance in each channel, resulting in high efficiency, near-uniform dispersion, and reduced program risk and cost due to the high degree of component commonality. We also discuss the general applicability of this concept for achieving high resolution spectroscopy in the next generation of ground-based instrumentation.
The Advanced Camera for the Hubble Space Telescope
Storage and Retrieval For Image and Video Databases, 1997
The Advanced Camera for the Hubble Space Telescope has three cameras. The first, the Wide Field Camera, will be a highthroughput (44% at 600 nm, including the HST OTA), wide field (200"×204"), 4096 × 4096 pixel CCD optical and I-band camera that is half-critically sampled at 500 nm. The second, the High Resolution Camera (HRC), is a 1024 × 1024 pixel CCD camera that is critically sampled at 500 nm. The HRC has a 26"×29" field of view and 29% throughput at 250 nm. The HRC optical path includes a coronagraph that will improve the HST contrast near bright objects by a factor of ~10 at 900 nm. The third camera, the Solar-Blind Camera, is a far-ultraviolet, pulse-counting array that has a relatively high throughput (6% at 121.6 nm) over a 26"×29" field of view. The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) will increase HST's capability for surveys and discovery by a factor of ~10 at 800 nm.
Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Investigation Definition Team
1997
Visual and ultraviolet spatially resolved ( ∼ 0. ′ ′ 1) spectra of SN 1987A obtained on days 3715 and 3743 with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope show that the high-velocity SN debris is colliding 1 Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope
Publications of The Astronomical Society of The Pacific, 2005
We present the photometric calibration of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The ACS was installed in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 2002 March. It comprises three cameras: the Wide Field Channel (WFC), optimized for deep near-IR survey imaging programs; the High Resolution Channel (HRC), a high-resolution imager that fully samples the HST point-spread function (PSF) in the visible; and the Solar Blind Channel (SBC), a far-UV imager. A significant amount of data has been collected to characterize the on-orbit performance of the three channels. We give here an overview of the performance and calibration of the two CCD cameras (WFC and HRC) and a description of the best techniques for reducing ACS CCD data. The overall performance is as expected from prelaunch testing of the camera. Surprises were a better-than-predicted sensitivity in the visible and near-IR for both the WFC and HRC and an unpredicted dip in the HRC UV response at ~3200 Å. On-orbit observations of spectrophotometric standard stars have been used to revise the prelaunch estimate of the instrument response curves to best match predicted and observed count rates. Synthetic photometry has been used to determine zero points for all filters in three magnitude systems and to derive interstellar extinction values for the ACS photometric systems. Due to the CCD internal scattering of long-wavelength photons, the width of the PSF increases significantly in the near-IR, and the aperture correction for photometry with near-IR filters depends on the spectral energy distribution of the source. We provide a detailed recipe to correct for the latter effect. Transformations between the ACS photometric systems and the UBVRI and WFPC2 systems are presented. In general, two sets of transformations are available: one based on the observation of two star clusters; the other on synthetic photometry. We discuss the accuracy of these transformations and their sensitivity to details of the spectra being transformed. Initial signs of detector degradation due to the HST radiative environment are already visible. We discuss the impact on the data in terms of dark rate increase, charge transfer inefficiency, and ``hot'' pixel population.
Advanced camera for the Hubble Space Telescope
Space Telescopes and Instruments Iv, 1996
The Advanced Camera for the Hubble Space Telescope has three cameras. The first, the Wide Field Camera, will be a highthroughput (44% at 600 nm, including the HST OTA), wide field (200"×204"), 4096 × 4096 pixel CCD optical and I-band camera that is half-critically sampled at 500 nm. The second, the High Resolution Camera (HRC), is a 1024 × 1024 pixel CCD camera that is critically sampled at 500 nm. The HRC has a 26"×29" field of view and 29% throughput at 250 nm. The HRC optical path includes a coronagraph that will improve the HST contrast near bright objects by a factor of ~10 at 900 nm. The third camera, the Solar-Blind Camera, is a far-ultraviolet, pulse-counting array that has a relatively high throughput (6% at 121.6 nm) over a 26"×29" field of view. The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) will increase HST's capability for surveys and discovery by a factor of ~10 at 800 nm.