The on-ground calibration of the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec instrument on-board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Giorgio Bagnasco; Pierre Ferruit; Torsten Boeker; Martin Closs; Bernhard Dorner; Xavier Gnata; Jess Koehler; Manfred Kolm; Christoph Kuechel; Harald Langenbach; Markus Melf; Jean-Francoise Pittet; Maurice Te Plate; Thomas Wetteman

doi:10.1117/12.788172

12 July 2008 The on-ground calibration of the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument on-board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Giorgio Bagnasco, Pierre Ferruit, Torsten Boeker, Martin Closs, Bernhard Dorner, Xavier Gnata, Jess Koehler, Manfred Kolm, Christoph Kuechel, Harald Langenbach, Markus Melf, Jean-Francoise Pittet, Maurice Te Plate, Thomas Wetteman

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7010, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter; 701035 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.788172
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mission is a collaborative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). JWST is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and although its design and science objectives are quite different, JWST is expected to yield equivalently astonishing breakthroughs in infrared space science. Due to be launched in 2013 from the French Guiana, the JWST observatory will be placed in an orbit around the anti- Sun Earth-Sun Lagrangian point, L2, by an Ariane 5 launcher provided by ESA. The payload on board the JWST observatory consists of four main scientific instruments: a near-infrared camera (NIRCam), a mid-infrared camera/spectrograph (MIRI), a near-infrared tunable filter (TFI) and a near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec). The instrument suite is completed by a Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS). NIRSpec is a multi-object spectrograph capable of measuring the spectra of about 100 objects simultaneously at low (R~100), medium (R~1000) and high (R~2700) resolutions over the wavelength range between 0.6 micron and 5.0 micron. It features also a classical fix-slits spectroscopy mode as well as a 3D-spectrography mode with spectral resolutions up to 2700. The availability of extensive and accurate calibration data of the NIRSpec instrument is a key element to ensure that the nominal performance of the instrument will be achieved and that high-quality processed data will be made available to the users. In this context, an on-ground calibration is planned at instrument level that will supplement the later in-flight calibration campaign. In this article we describe the overall on-ground instrument calibration campaigns and we provide an overview of the main features and performances of the individual elements of the sophisticated cryogenic optical ground support equipment (OGSE) used to calibrate NIRSpec.

Citation Download Citation

Giorgio Bagnasco, Pierre Ferruit, Torsten Boeker, Martin Closs, Bernhard Dorner, Xavier Gnata, Jess Koehler, Manfred Kolm, Christoph Kuechel, Harald Langenbach, Markus Melf, Jean-Francoise Pittet, Maurice Te Plate, and Thomas Wetteman "The on-ground calibration of the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument on-board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)", Proc. SPIE 7010, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter, 701035 (12 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.788172

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

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available