Integral field spectrographs are an important technology for exoplanet imaging, due to their ability to take spectra in a high-contrast environment, and improve planet detection sensitivity through spectral differential imaging. ALES is the first integral field spectrograph capable of imaging exoplanets from 3-5μm, and will extend our ability to characterize self-luminous exoplanets into a wavelength range where they peak in brightness. ALES is installed inside LBTI/LMIRcam on the Large Binocular Telescope, taking advantage of existing AO systems, camera optics, and a HAWAII-2RG detector. The new optics that comprise ALES are a Keplerian magnifier, a silicon lenslet array with diffraction suppressing pinholes, a direct vision prism, and calibration optics. All of these components are installed in filter wheels making ALES a completely modular design. ALES saw first light at the LBT in June 2015.
@article{arxiv.1508.06290,
title = {First Light with ALES: A 2-5 Micron Adaptive Optics Integral Field Spectrograph for the LBT},
author = {Andrew J. Skemer and Philip Hinz and Manny Montoya and Michael F. Skrutskie and Jarron Leisenring and Oli Durney and Charles E. Woodward and John Wilson and Matt Nelson and Vanessa Bailey and Denis Defrere and Jordan Stone},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1508.06290},
year = {2016}
}