The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) offers the first opportunity to use integral-field spectroscopy from space at near-infrared wavelengths. More specifically, NIRSpec's integral-field unit can obtain spectra covering the wavelength range 0.6−5.3μm for a contiguous 3.1 arcsec × 3.2 arcsec sky area at spectral resolutions of R≈100, 1000, and 2700. In this paper we describe the optical and mechanical design of the NIRSpec integral-field spectroscopy mode, together with its expected performance. We also discuss a few recommended observing strategies, some of which are driven by the fact that NIRSpec is a multipurpose instrument with a number of different observing modes, which are discussed in companion papers. We briefly discuss the data processing steps required to produce wavelength- and flux-calibrated data cubes that contain the spatial and spectral information. Lastly, we mention a few scientific topics that are bound to benefit from this highly innovative capability offered by JWST/NIRSpec.
@article{arxiv.2202.03308,
title = {The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on the James Webb Space Telescope III. Integral-field spectroscopy},
author = {T. Böker and S. Arribas and N. Lützgendorf and C. Alves de Oliveira and T. L. Beck and S. Birkmann and A. J. Bunker and S. Charlot and G. de Marchi and P. Ferruit and G. Giardino and P. Jakobsen and N. Kumari and M. López-Caniego and R. Maiolino and E. Manjavacas and A. Marston and S. H. Moseley and J. Muzerolle and P. Ogle and N. Pirzkal and B. Rauscher and T. Rawle and H. W. Rix and E. Sabbi and B. Sargent and M. Sirianni and M. te Plate and J. Valenti and C. J. Willott and P. Zeidler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.03308},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in A&A. 13 pages, 14 figures