The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF): Future Instrumentation and Upgrades
Abstract
The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) is a 3.0-m infrared telescope located at an altitude of 4.2 km near the summit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. The IRTF was established by NASA to obtain solar system observations of interest to NASA. The funding for IRTF operations was renewed in May 2014 for another 5 years. We discuss new instrumentation and upgrades during this time period. Current instruments include: (1) SpeX, a 0.7-5 μm moderate-resolution spectrograph and camera, (2) MORIS, a high-speed CCD imager attached to SpeX for simultaneous visible and near-infrared observations, and (3) CSHELL, a 1-5 μm high-resolution spectrograph. Detector upgrades have recently been made to SpeX. We are also designing and constructing a new echelle spectrograph for 1-5 μm. This instrument will be commissioned starting in early 2016. We also plan to restore to service our 8-25 μm camera, MIRSI. Our 1-5 μm camera, NSFCAM, was lost due to a failure of the liquid nitrogen can that was caused by an ice plug. We can restore this instrument to service but no plans have been made yet. The IRTF supports remote observing from any site. This eliminates the need for travel to the observatory and short observing time slots can be supported. We also welcome onsite visiting astronomers. In the near future we plan to implement a low-order wave-front sensor to allow real-time focus and collimation of the telescope. This will greatly improve observational efficiency. In the longer term, we envision the construction of an adaptive optics system that is optimized for solar system observations. This instrument would use the restored NSFCAM, which has a circular variable filter allowing selection of any wavelength from 1-5 μm. We welcome input for planetary science cases needing diffraction-limited imaging at 1-5 μm. For further information on the IRTF and its instruments including visitor instruments, see: http://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/. We gratefully acknowledge the support of NASA contract NNH14CK55B, NASA Science Mission Directorate.
- Publication:
-
AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts #46
- Pub Date:
- November 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014DPS....4621419T