Mounts and Alignments of Optics for the ROSIE Integral Field Unit on the Magellan IMACS

Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) delivers spatially resolved spectroscopy over an entire galaxy or field of view more efficiently than traversing a field of view using long slit spectroscopy. This project focuses on designing an image slicer integral field unit (IFU) to go on the Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph (IMACS) on the Magellan Baade Telescope in order to utilize IFS. The instrument will be named the Reformatting Optically-Sensitive IMACS Enhancement IFU, or ROSIE IFU. The field will be divided into 92 slices by four image slicers, and then those slices will be reformatted into four spectrographic slits and input into IMACS. The project’s goal is to create adjustable and accurate optic mounts for the fold mirrors. The fold mirror mount model will have to isolate tilts in the X and Y-axes as well as be easily constructible and repeatable as there are many that will be made. A deflection and strain analysis were done on the different models, and the best performing prototype was used. The prototypes were made on SolidWorks then milled out of aluminum. The most practical design which fulfills these criteria includes two flaps to isolate the X and Y-axis tilts and connects to a base that controls the angle. There is also an endcap designed to hold the mirror in place without need for epoxies and thermal analyses. The design chosen has a universal mirror mount with an easily changeable base, therefore making it easier to create many multiples of these mounts at different angles. The mounts have been fabricated to practice aligning the optics to properly direct the light into the spectrographic slit.