Seminarios de Instrumentación
Seminario de Instrumentación. A high-resolution ultra-stable spectrograph for GTC

Abstract

With long-term collaboration between Chinese and Spanish astronomical communities, the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) and Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) co-promoted a meaningful effort in 2016 to develop a high-resolution ultra-stable spectrograph for the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) and absorbs the Chinese astronomical community into the GTC partnership. The instrument will enhance the GTC observatory’s capability in exoplanetary research and create more chances for the Chinese astronomical community to explore the universe with the existing largest optical telescope.

In this instrument project, NAOC and Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technologies (NIAOT) are jointly responsible for developing a high-resolution spectrograph with competitive capabilities for searching and studying habitable exoplanets. The instrument will provide a hybrid observing function with a high resolution of R≥100000 in the 410–780 nm visible/optical band and R≥20000 in the 310–410 nm near-UV band. In the optical band, the spectrograph will run in an ultra-stable vacuum environment at the Coude room to measure stellar radial velocity. In the near-UV band, the spectrograph near the Nasmyth focus will assist the optical spectrograph to distinguish the signals of stellar radial velocity for high precision RV measurement, and also enable us to observe the celestial objects at the shortest wavelength of 310 nm to investigate the origins of some chemical elements. At present, the project team is working on the preliminary design and aims to complete the first-light observation in 2026.

This talk will introduce in detail the scientific motivation and progress in instrumental design. We look forward to attracting more interests among the audiences and receiving more comments on science and technology. I believe that it would be very helpful to develop a qualified instrument for the GTC. On behalf of the project team, I appreciate all the support from the IAC and the GRANTECAN S. A.

ZOOM

https://rediris.zoom.us/j/86470284286

ID de reunión: 864 7028 4286

YouTube

https://youtu.be/VZMar0vSGMc