HARMONI is the first light visible and near-IR integral field spectrograph for the ELT. It covers a large spectral range from 450 nm to 2450 nm with resolving powers from 3500 to 18000 and spatial sampling from 60 mas to 4 mas. It can operate in two Adaptive Optics modes - SCAO (including a High Contrast capability) and LTAO - or with NOAO. The project is preparing for Final Design Reviews. HARMONI is a work-horse instrument that provides efficient, spatially resolved spectroscopy of extended objects or crowded fields of view. The gigantic leap in sensitivity and spatial resolution that HARMONI at the ELT will enable promises to transform the landscape in observational astrophysics in the coming decade. The project has undergone some key changes to the leadership and management structure over the last two years. We present the salient elements of the project restructuring, and modifications to the technical specifications. The instrument design is very mature in the lead up to the final design review. In this paper, we provide an overview of the instrument's capabilities, details of recent technical changes during the red flag period, and an update of sensitivities.
HARMONI is the first light visible and near-IR integral field spectrograph for the ELT. It covers a large spectral range from 450nm to 2450nm with resolving powers from 3500 to 18000 and spatial sampling from 60mas to 40mas. It can operate in two Adaptive Optics modes - SCAO (including a High Contrast capability) and LTAO - or with NOAO. The project is preparing for Final Design Reviews. The Focal Plane Relay Sub-System (FPRS) relays the ELT's Nasymth A2 focal plane to the HARMONI IFS focal plane. The FPRS maintains a -15°C environment to reduce additional thermal noise and contains two Ø600 mm x 20 mm windows in a double-glazing arrangement at the entrance. The external window surface temperature will be below the ambient telescope temperature due to insulation limitations and could lead to condensation forming reducing optical throughput and increased scatter, in particular in the IR-bands. We present the design and testing of a window flushing solution utilizing air knife technology
The Multi Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph (MOONS) instrument is the next generation multi-object spectrograph for the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The instrument combines the high multiplexing capability offered by 1000 optical fibres deployed by individual robotic positioners with a novel spectrograph able to provide both low- and high-resolution spectroscopy simultaneously across the wavelength range 0.64μm - 1.8μm. Powered by the collecting area of the 8-m VLT, MOONS will provide the astronomical community with a world-leading facility able to serve a wide range of Galactic, Extragalactic and Cosmological studies. This paper provides an updated overview of the instrument and its construction progress, reporting on the ongoing integration phase.
MOONS is a Multi-Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph currently under construction as a third generation instrument for the Very Large Telescope (VLT). It combines the large collecting area offered by the VLT (8.2m diameter), with a large multiplex and wavelength coverage (optical to near-IR: 0.8μm - 1.8μm). Integration of 2 of the arms of the spectrograph (RI and YJ) was recently completed at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre, and initial engineering tests carried out to assess the performance of the spectrograph. This paper presents an overview of the system, the integration and alignment process, and an assessment of the image quality of the two cameras, wavelength coverage and resolving power.
HARMONI is the first light, adaptive optics assisted, integral field spectrograph for the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). A work-horse instrument, it provides the ELT’s diffraction limited spectroscopic capability across the near-infrared wavelength range. HARMONI will exploit the ELT’s unique combination of exquisite spatial resolution and enormous collecting area, enabling transformational science. The design of the instrument is being finalized, and the plans for assembly, integration and testing are being detailed. We present an overview of the instrument’s capabilities from a user perspective, and provide a summary of the instrument’s design. We also include recent changes to the project, both technical and programmatic, that have resulted from red-flag actions. Finally, we outline some of the simulated HARMONI observations currently being analyzed.
HARMONI is the adaptive optics assisted, near-infrared and visible light integral field spectrograph for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). A first light instrument, it provides the work-horse spectroscopic capability for the ELT. As the project approaches its Final Design Review milestone, the design of the instrument is being finalized, and the plans for assembly, integration and testing are being detailed. We present an overview of the instrument’s capabilities from a user perspective, provide a summary of the instrument’s design, including plans for operations and calibrations, and provide a brief glimpse of the predicted performance for a specific observing scenario. The paper also provides some details of the consortium composition and its evolution since the project commenced in 2015.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.