HexPak and GradPak: variable-pitch dual-head IFUs for the WIYN 3.5m Telescope Bench Spectrograph

Corey M. Wood; Matthew A. Bershady; Arthur D. Eigenbrot; Scott A. Buckley; John S. Gallagher III; Eric J. Hooper; Andrew I. Sheinis; Michael P. Smith; Marsha J. Wolf

doi:10.1117/12.926580

24 September 2012 HexPak and GradPak: variable-pitch dual-head IFUs for the WIYN 3.5m Telescope Bench Spectrograph

Corey M. Wood, Matthew A. Bershady, Arthur D. Eigenbrot, Scott A. Buckley, John S. Gallagher III, Eric J. Hooper, Andrew I. Sheinis, Michael P. Smith, Marsha J. Wolf

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8446, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV; 84462W (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926580
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

We describe the design, construction, and expected performance of two new fiber integral field units (IFUs) - HexPak and GradPak - for the WIYN 3.5m Telescope Nasmyth focus and Bench Spectrograph. These are the first IFUs to provide formatted fiber integral field spectroscopy with simultaneous sampling of varying angular scales. HexPak and GradPak are in a single cable with a dual-head design, permitting easy switching between the two different IFU heads on the telescope without changing the spectrograph feed: the two heads feed a variable-width double-slit. Each IFU head is comprised of a fixed arrangement of fibers with a range of fiber diameters. The layout and diameters of the fibers within each array are scientifically-driven for observations of galaxies: HexPak is designed to observe face-on spiral or spheroidal galaxies while GradPak is optimized for edge-on studies of galaxy disks. HexPak is a hexagonal array of 2.9 arcsec fibers subtending a 40.9 arcsec diameter, with a high-resolution circular core of 0.94 arcsec fibers subtending 6 arcsec diameter. GradPak is a 39 by 55 arcsec rectangular array with rows of fibers of increasing diameter from angular scales of 1.9 arcsec to 5.6 arcsec across the array. The variable pitch of these IFU heads allows for adequate sampling of light profile gradients while maintaining the photon limit at different scales.

Citation Download Citation

Corey M. Wood, Matthew A. Bershady, Arthur D. Eigenbrot, Scott A. Buckley, John S. Gallagher III, Eric J. Hooper, Andrew I. Sheinis, Michael P. Smith, and Marsha J. Wolf "HexPak and GradPak: variable-pitch dual-head IFUs for the WIYN 3.5m Telescope Bench Spectrograph", Proc. SPIE 8446, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV, 84462W (24 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926580

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

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.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

;

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE