Hector: a new massively multiplexed IFU instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope

Julia J. Bryant; Joss Bland-Hawthorn; Jon Lawrence; Scott Croom; David Brown; Sudharshan Venkatesan; Peter R. Gillingham; Ross Zhelem; Robert Content; Will Saunders; Nicholas F. Staszak; Jesse Van De Sande; Warrick Couch; Sergio Leon-Saval; Julia Tims; Richard McDermid; Adam Schaefer

doi:10.1117/12.2230740

Hector: a new massively multiplexed IFU instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope

Julia J. Bryant^*, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Jon Lawrence, Scott Croom, David Brown, Sudharshan Venkatesan, Peter R. Gillingham, Ross Zhelem, Robert Content, Will Saunders, Nicholas F. Staszak, Jesse Van De Sande, Warrick Couch, Sergio Leon-Saval, Julia Tims, Richard McDermid, Adam Schaefer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

33 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Hector [1,2,3] will be the new massively-multiplexed integral field spectroscopy (IFS) instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) in Australia and the next main dark-time instrument for the observatory. Based on the success of the SAMI instrument, which is undertaking a 3400-galaxy survey, the integral field unit (IFU) imaging fibre bundle (hexabundle) technology under-pinning SAMI is being improved to a new innovative design for Hector. The distribution of hexabundle angular sizes is matched to the galaxy survey properties in order to image 90% of galaxies out to 2 effective radii. 50-100 of these IFU imaging bundles will be positioned by ' starbug' robots across a new 3-degree field corrector top end to be purpose-built for the AAT. Many thousand fibres will then be fed into new replicable spectrographs. Fundamentally new science will be achieved compared to existing instruments due to Hector's wider field of view (3 degrees), high positioning efficiency using starbugs, higher spectroscopic resolution (R=3000-5500 from 3727-7761Å, with a possible redder extension later) and large IFUs (up to 30 arcsec diameter with 61-217 fibre cores). A 100,000 galaxy IFS survey with Hector will decrypt how the accretion and merger history and large-scale environment made every galaxy different in its morphology and star formation history. The high resolution, particularly in the blue, will make Hector the only instrument to be able to measure higher-order kinematics for galaxies down to much lower velocity dispersion than in current large IFS galaxy surveys, opening up a wealth of new nearby galaxy science.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI
Editors	Christopher J. Evans, Luc Simard, Hideki Takami
Place of Publication	Bellingham, WA
Publisher	SPIE
Pages	1-19
Number of pages	19
ISBN (Electronic)	9781510601956
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2230740
Publication status	Published - 2016
Event	Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI - Edinburgh, United Kingdom Duration: 26 Jun 2016 → 30 Jun 2016

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of SPIE
Publisher	SPIE
Volume	9908
ISSN (Print)	0277-786X

Other

Other	Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Edinburgh
Period	26/06/16 → 30/06/16

Keywords

AAT
Fibre positioner
Hector
Hexabundles
IFS
IFU
Spectroscopy
Starbugs

Access to Document

10.1117/12.2230740

Cite this

Bryant, J. J., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Lawrence, J., Croom, S., Brown, D., Venkatesan, S., Gillingham, P. R., Zhelem, R., Content, R., Saunders, W., Staszak, N. F., Van De Sande, J., Couch, W., Leon-Saval, S., Tims, J., McDermid, R., & Schaefer, A. (2016). Hector: a new massively multiplexed IFU instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope. In C. J. Evans, L. Simard, & H. Takami (Eds.), Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI (pp. 1-19). [99081F] (Proceedings of SPIE; Vol. 9908). SPIE. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2230740

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title = "Hector: a new massively multiplexed IFU instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope",

abstract = "Hector [1,2,3] will be the new massively-multiplexed integral field spectroscopy (IFS) instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) in Australia and the next main dark-time instrument for the observatory. Based on the success of the SAMI instrument, which is undertaking a 3400-galaxy survey, the integral field unit (IFU) imaging fibre bundle (hexabundle) technology under-pinning SAMI is being improved to a new innovative design for Hector. The distribution of hexabundle angular sizes is matched to the galaxy survey properties in order to image 90% of galaxies out to 2 effective radii. 50-100 of these IFU imaging bundles will be positioned by ' starbug' robots across a new 3-degree field corrector top end to be purpose-built for the AAT. Many thousand fibres will then be fed into new replicable spectrographs. Fundamentally new science will be achieved compared to existing instruments due to Hector's wider field of view (3 degrees), high positioning efficiency using starbugs, higher spectroscopic resolution (R=3000-5500 from 3727-7761{\AA}, with a possible redder extension later) and large IFUs (up to 30 arcsec diameter with 61-217 fibre cores). A 100,000 galaxy IFS survey with Hector will decrypt how the accretion and merger history and large-scale environment made every galaxy different in its morphology and star formation history. The high resolution, particularly in the blue, will make Hector the only instrument to be able to measure higher-order kinematics for galaxies down to much lower velocity dispersion than in current large IFS galaxy surveys, opening up a wealth of new nearby galaxy science.",

keywords = "AAT, Fibre positioner, Hector, Hexabundles, IFS, IFU, Spectroscopy, Starbugs",

author = "Bryant, {Julia J.} and Joss Bland-Hawthorn and Jon Lawrence and Scott Croom and David Brown and Sudharshan Venkatesan and Gillingham, {Peter R.} and Ross Zhelem and Robert Content and Will Saunders and Staszak, {Nicholas F.} and {Van De Sande}, Jesse and Warrick Couch and Sergio Leon-Saval and Julia Tims and Richard McDermid and Adam Schaefer",

year = "2016",

doi = "10.1117/12.2230740",

language = "English",

series = "Proceedings of SPIE",

publisher = "SPIE",

pages = "1--19",

editor = "Evans, {Christopher J.} and Luc Simard and Hideki Takami",

booktitle = "Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI",

address = "United States",

note = "Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI ; Conference date: 26-06-2016 Through 30-06-2016",

}

Bryant, JJ, Bland-Hawthorn, J, Lawrence, J, Croom, S, Brown, D, Venkatesan, S, Gillingham, PR, Zhelem, R, Content, R, Saunders, W, Staszak, NF, Van De Sande, J, Couch, W, Leon-Saval, S, Tims, J, McDermid, R & Schaefer, A 2016, Hector: a new massively multiplexed IFU instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope. in CJ Evans, L Simard & H Takami (eds), Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI., 99081F, Proceedings of SPIE, vol. 9908, SPIE, Bellingham, WA, pp. 1-19, Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 26/06/16. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2230740

Hector: a new massively multiplexed IFU instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope. / Bryant, Julia J.; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Lawrence, Jon et al.
Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI. ed. / Christopher J. Evans; Luc Simard; Hideki Takami. Bellingham, WA: SPIE, 2016. p. 1-19 99081F (Proceedings of SPIE; Vol. 9908).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

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AU - Venkatesan, Sudharshan

AU - Gillingham, Peter R.

AU - Zhelem, Ross

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AU - Saunders, Will

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N2 - Hector [1,2,3] will be the new massively-multiplexed integral field spectroscopy (IFS) instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) in Australia and the next main dark-time instrument for the observatory. Based on the success of the SAMI instrument, which is undertaking a 3400-galaxy survey, the integral field unit (IFU) imaging fibre bundle (hexabundle) technology under-pinning SAMI is being improved to a new innovative design for Hector. The distribution of hexabundle angular sizes is matched to the galaxy survey properties in order to image 90% of galaxies out to 2 effective radii. 50-100 of these IFU imaging bundles will be positioned by ' starbug' robots across a new 3-degree field corrector top end to be purpose-built for the AAT. Many thousand fibres will then be fed into new replicable spectrographs. Fundamentally new science will be achieved compared to existing instruments due to Hector's wider field of view (3 degrees), high positioning efficiency using starbugs, higher spectroscopic resolution (R=3000-5500 from 3727-7761Å, with a possible redder extension later) and large IFUs (up to 30 arcsec diameter with 61-217 fibre cores). A 100,000 galaxy IFS survey with Hector will decrypt how the accretion and merger history and large-scale environment made every galaxy different in its morphology and star formation history. The high resolution, particularly in the blue, will make Hector the only instrument to be able to measure higher-order kinematics for galaxies down to much lower velocity dispersion than in current large IFS galaxy surveys, opening up a wealth of new nearby galaxy science.

AB - Hector [1,2,3] will be the new massively-multiplexed integral field spectroscopy (IFS) instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) in Australia and the next main dark-time instrument for the observatory. Based on the success of the SAMI instrument, which is undertaking a 3400-galaxy survey, the integral field unit (IFU) imaging fibre bundle (hexabundle) technology under-pinning SAMI is being improved to a new innovative design for Hector. The distribution of hexabundle angular sizes is matched to the galaxy survey properties in order to image 90% of galaxies out to 2 effective radii. 50-100 of these IFU imaging bundles will be positioned by ' starbug' robots across a new 3-degree field corrector top end to be purpose-built for the AAT. Many thousand fibres will then be fed into new replicable spectrographs. Fundamentally new science will be achieved compared to existing instruments due to Hector's wider field of view (3 degrees), high positioning efficiency using starbugs, higher spectroscopic resolution (R=3000-5500 from 3727-7761Å, with a possible redder extension later) and large IFUs (up to 30 arcsec diameter with 61-217 fibre cores). A 100,000 galaxy IFS survey with Hector will decrypt how the accretion and merger history and large-scale environment made every galaxy different in its morphology and star formation history. The high resolution, particularly in the blue, will make Hector the only instrument to be able to measure higher-order kinematics for galaxies down to much lower velocity dispersion than in current large IFS galaxy surveys, opening up a wealth of new nearby galaxy science.

KW - AAT

KW - Fibre positioner

KW - Hector

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KW - IFS

KW - IFU

KW - Spectroscopy

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M3 - Conference proceeding contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85007235922

T3 - Proceedings of SPIE

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BT - Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI

A2 - Evans, Christopher J.

A2 - Simard, Luc

A2 - Takami, Hideki

PB - SPIE

CY - Bellingham, WA

Y2 - 26 June 2016 through 30 June 2016

ER -

Hector: a new massively multiplexed IFU instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope

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