Binospec: A Wide-field Imaging Spectrograph for the MMT
Abstract
Binospec is a high-throughput, 370 to 1000 nm, imaging spectrograph that addresses two adjacent 8‧ by 15‧ fields of view. Binospec was commissioned in late 2017 at the f/5 focus of the 6.5 m MMT and is now available to all MMT observers. Aperture masks cut from stainless steel with a laser cutter are used to define the entrance apertures that range from 15‧ long slits to hundreds of 2″ slitlets. System throughputs, including the MMT’s mirrors and the f/5 wide-field corrector peak at ∼30%. Three reflection gratings, duplicated for the two beams, provide resolutions (λ/Δλ) between 1300 and >5000 with a 1″ wide slit. Two through-the-mask guiders are used for target acquisition, mask alignment, guiding, and precision offsets. A full-time Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor allows continuous adjustment of primary mirror support forces, telescope collimation and focus. Active flexure control maintains spectrograph alignment and focus under varying gravity and thermal conditions.
- Publication:
-
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
- Pub Date:
- July 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1088/1538-3873/ab1d78
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1905.03320
- Bibcode:
- 2019PASP..131g5004F
- Keywords:
-
- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- PASP in press