Related papers: The SCORPIO focal reducer
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is an airborne observatory consisting of a specially modified Boeing 747SP with a 2.7-m telescope, flying at altitudes as high as 13.7 km (45,000 ft). Designed to observe at…
Technological advances will allow the placement of many Terahertz detectors at the focal plane of a single telescope. For a telescope of a given diameter and wavelength of operation, there is a limit to the number of usable detectors…
Image slicing is a powerful technique in astronomy. It allows the instrument designer to reduce the slit width of the spectrograph, increasing spectral resolving power whilst retaining throughput. Conventionally this is done using bulk…
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), a coronagraphic adaptive optics instrument designed for spectroscopy of extrasolar planets, had first light in 2013[13]. After five years, GPI has observed more than 500 stars, producing an extensive library…
The 2dF (Two-degree Field) facility at the prime focus of the Anglo-Australian Telescope provides multiple object spectroscopy over a 2 degree field of view. Up to 400 target fibres can be independently positioned by a complex robot. Two…
Although delta Scorpii is a bright and well-studied star, the details of its multiplicity have remained unclear. Here we present the first diffraction-limited image of this 0.12 arcsec binary star, made using optical interferometry, and…
Research activities during the last decade have shown the strong potential of photonic devices to greatly simplify ground based and space borne astronomical instruments and to improve their performance. We focus specifically on the…
This white paper is submitted to the Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 Decadal Survey (Astro2010)1 Committee on the State of the Profession to emphasize the potential of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to…
The Multi-adaptive optics Imaging CamerA for Deep Observations (MICADO) will image a field of view of nearly 1 arcminute at the diffraction limit of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), making use of the adaptive optics correction provided…
We have developed light and durable mirrors made of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics) laminates for the reflector of the new CANGAROO-II 7 m telescope. The reflector has a parabolic shape (F/1.1) with a 30 m^2 effective area which…
Since its emergence two decades ago, astrophotonics has found broad application in scientific instruments at many institutions worldwide. The case for astrophotonics becomes more compelling as telescopes push for AO-assisted,…
The COSmic Monopole Observer (COSMO) is an experiment to measure low-level spectral distortions in the isotropic component of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Deviations from a pure blackbody spectrum are expected at low level ($<$ 1…
The Hipparcos Intermediate Astrometric Data have been used lately to estimate the inclination of the orbital plane of candidate extrasolar planets. Whereas most of these investigations derive almost face-on orbits, we show that the…
In the next few years the classification of radio sources observed by the large surveys will be a challenging problem, and spectral index is a powerful tool for addressing it. Here we present an algorithm to estimate the spectral index of…
The current direct observations of brown dwarfs and exoplanets have been obtained using instruments not specifically designed for overcoming the large contrast ratio between the host star and any wide-separation faint companions. However,…
In astronomical spectroscopy, optical fibres are abundantly used for multiplexing and decoupling the spectrograph from the telescope to provide stability in a controlled environment. However, fibres are less than perfect optical components…
Gamma-ray observations give us a direct view into the most extreme environments of the universe. They help us to study astronomical particle accelerators as supernovae remnants, pulsars, active galaxies or gamma-ray bursts and help us to…
We present new data obtained with SpIOMM, the imaging Fourier transform spectrometer attached to the 1.6-m telescope of the Observatoire du Mont-M\'egantic in Qu\'ebec. Recent technical and data reduction improvements have significantly…
We show the feasibility of spectroscopic cosmological surveys with the SAFARI instrument onboard of SPICA. The work is done through simulations that make use of both empirical methods, i.e. the use of observed luminosity functions and…
The Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA's Great Observatory for infrared astronomy, has made available new tools for the investigation of the infrared properties of planetary nebulae. The three instruments onboard, including the Infrared Array…