Expected observing efficiency of the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE)

Nicolas Flagey; Kei Szeto; Kevin Ho; Billy Mahoney; Alan McConnachie; Alexis Hill; Calum Hervieu

doi:10.1117/12.2312698

10 July 2018 Expected observing efficiency of the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE)

Nicolas Flagey, Kei Szeto, Kevin Ho, Billy Mahoney, Alan McConnachie, Alexis Hill, Calum Hervieu

Proceedings Volume 10704, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VII; 107042R (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312698
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) will obtain millions of spectra each year in the optical to near-infrared, at low (R ≃ 3; 000) to high (R ≃ 40; 000) spectral resolution by observing <4,000 spectra per pointing via a highly multiplexed fiber-fed system. Key science programs for MSE include black hole reverberation mapping, stellar population analysis of faint galaxies at high redshift, and sub-km/s velocity accuracy for stellar astrophysics.

One key metric of the success of MSE will be its survey speed, i.e. how many spectra of good signal-to-noise ratio will MSE be able to obtain every night and every year. This is defined at the higher level by the observing efficiency of the observatory and should be at least 80%, as indicated in the Science Requirements.

In this paper we present the observing efficiency budget developed for MSE based on historical data at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and other Maunakea Observatories. We describe the typical sequence of events at night to help us compute the observing efficiency and how we envision to optimize it to meet the science requirements

Citation Download Citation

Nicolas Flagey, Kei Szeto, Kevin Ho, Billy Mahoney, Alan McConnachie, Alexis Hill, and Calum Hervieu "Expected observing efficiency of the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE)", Proc. SPIE 10704, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems VII, 107042R (10 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312698

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