Related papers: The SPEAR Instrument and On-Orbit Performance

We are using computer models to explore the observational sensitivity to changes in atmospheric and surface properties, and the detectability of biosignatures, in the globally averaged spectra and light-curves of the Earth. Using AIRS…

We have derived the dust emissivity in the Far-Infrared (FIR) using data available in the literature. We use two wavelength dependences derived from spectra of Galactic FIR emission (Reach et al. 1995). A value for the emissivity,…

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…

Next year the second generation instrument SPHERE will begin science operations at the Very Large Telecope (ESO). This instrument will be dedicated to the search for exoplanets through the direct imaging techniques, with the new generation…

The Spectrograph for Photometric Imaging with Numeric Reconstruction (SPINR) sounding rocket experiment was launched on 2000 August 4 to record far-ultraviolet (912-1450 A) spectral and spatial information for the giant reflection nebula in…

A comprehensive study of interstellar medium phases and the nature of their boundaries or connections requires comparing abundances and velocity profiles from tracers of the different phases. In the UV, studies of a wealth of absorption…

High-fidelity spectroscopy presents challenges for both observations and in designing instruments. High-resolution and high-accuracy spectra are required for verifying hydrodynamic stellar atmospheres and for resolving intergalactic…

The spectrometer SPI on INTEGRAL allows for the first time simultaneous imaging of diffuse and point-like emission in the hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray regime. To fully exploit the capabilities of the instrument, we implemented the MREM…

The FIR/submm window is amongst the least explored spectral regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is, however, a key to study the general properties of the interstellar medium of galaxies, as it contains important spectral line…

The new planet finder for the Very Large Telescope (VLT), the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE), just had its first light in Paranal. A dedicated instrument for the direct detection of planets, SPHERE, is…

The Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)is one of the three instruments on board the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) to be launched in December 2001. The IRS will provide high resolution spectra R~600 from 10--37microns and low resolution…

The far-infrared (far-IR) spectral window plays host to a wide range of spectroscopic diagnostics with which to study planetary disk systems and exoplanets at wavelengths completely blocked by the Earth atmosphere. These include the thermal…

SAFIRE is a versatile imaging Fabry-Perot spectrograph covering 145 to 655 microns, with spectral resolving powers ranging over 5-10,000. Selected as a "PI" instrument for the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy…

The Planet Hunting and Asteroseismology Explorer Spectrophotometer, PHASES, is a concept for a space-borne instrument to obtain flux calibrated spectra and measure micro-magnitude photometric variations of nearby stars. The science drivers…

SPIRE, the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver, is one of three instruments to fly on ESA's Herschel Space Observatory. It contains a three-band imaging photometer operating at 250, 360 and 520 microns, and an imaging Fourier…

The LAT instrument on the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope is performing an all-sky survey from 20 MeV to 300 GeV with unprecedented statistics and angular resolution. This is providing a wealth of new information on the non-thermal emission…

We present a survey of diffuse O VI emission in the interstellar medium obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). Spanning 5.5 years of FUSE observations, from launch through 2004 December, our data set consists of…

Infrared space interferometers can surpass the spatial resolution limitations of single-dish space telescopes. However, stellar interferometers from space have not been realized because of technical difficulties. Two beams coming from…

The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was an extremely successful european space mission that gave us an unparallel view of the Universe in the infrared, and provided us with hundreds of observations of star forming regions and bipolar…

Aims. We present simulations of the perfomances of the future SPHERE IFS instrument designed for imaging extrasolar planets in the near infrared (Y, J, and H bands). Methods. We used the IDL package code for adaptive optics simulation…