The AAO's Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST) concept

Michael J. Ireland*, Stuart Barnes, David Cochrane, Matthew Colless, Peter Connor, Anthony Horton, Steve Gibson, Jon Lawrence, Sarah Martell, Peter McGregor, Tom Nicolle, Kathryn Nield, David Orr, J. Gordon Robertson, Stuart Ryder, Andrew Sheinis, Greg Smith, Nick Staszak, Julia Tims, Pascal XavierPeter Young, Jessica Zheng

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceeding contributionpeer-review

    17 Citations (Scopus)
    219 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    The Gemini High-Resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST) will fill an important gap in the current suite of Gemini instruments. We will describe the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO)-led concept for GHOST, which consists of a multi-object, compact, high-efficiency, fixed-format, fiber-fed design. The spectrograph itself is a four-arm variant of the asymmetric white-pupil echelle Kiwispec spectrograph, Kiwisped, produced by Industrial Research Ltd. This spectrograph has an R4 grating and a 100mm pupil, and separate cross-disperser and camera optics for each of the four arms, carefully optimized for their respective wavelength ranges. We feed this spectrograph with a miniature lenslet-based IFU that sub-samples the seeing disk of a single object into 7 hexagonal sub-images, reformatting this into a slit with a second set of double microlenses at the spectrograph entrance with relatively little loss due to focal-ratio degradation. This reformatting enables high spectral resolution from a compact design that fits well within the relatively tight GHOST budget. We will describe our baseline 2-object R∼50,000 design with full wavelength coverage from the ultraviolet to the silicon cutoff, as well as the high-resolution single-object R∼75,000 mode.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationGround-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV
    Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of SPIE Vol. 8446
    EditorsIan S. McLean, Suzanne K. Ramsay, Hideki Takami
    Place of PublicationBellingham, Washington
    PublisherSPIE
    Pages1-13
    Number of pages13
    Volume8446
    ISBN (Print)9780819491473
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2012
    EventGround-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV - Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Duration: 1 Jul 20126 Jul 2012

    Other

    OtherGround-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV
    Country/TerritoryNetherlands
    CityAmsterdam
    Period1/07/126/07/12

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