An overview of instrumentation for the Large Binocular Telescope

R. Mark Wagner

doi:10.1117/12.789999

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9 July 2008 An overview of instrumentation for the Large Binocular Telescope

R. Mark Wagner

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Proceedings Volume 7014, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II; 701409 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789999
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

An overview of instrumentation for the Large Binocular Telescope is presented. Optical instrumentation includes the Large Binocular Camera (LBC), a pair of wide-field (27' × 27') mosaic CCD imagers at the prime focus, and the Multi-Object Double Spectrograph (MODS), a pair of dual-beam blue-red optimized long-slit spectrographs mounted at the straight-through F/15 Gregorian focus incorporating multiple slit masks for multi-object spectroscopy over a 6 field and spectral resolutions of up to 8000. Infrared instrumentation includes the LBT Near-IR Spectroscopic Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research (LUCIFER), a modular near-infrared (0.9-2.5 μm) imager and spectrograph pair mounted at a bent interior focal station and designed for seeing-limited (FOV: 4' × 4') imaging, long-slit spectroscopy, and multi-object spectroscopy utilizing cooled slit masks and diffraction limited (FOV: 0.5' × 0.5') imaging and long-slit spectroscopy. Strategic instruments under development for the remaining two combined focal stations include an interferometric cryogenic beam combiner with near-infrared and thermal-infrared instruments for Fizeau imaging and nulling interferometry (LBTI) and an optical bench near-infrared beam combiner utilizing multi-conjugate adaptive optics for high angular resolution and sensitivity (LINC-NIRVANA). In addition, a fiber-fed bench spectrograph (PEPSI) capable of ultra high resolution spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry (R = 40,000-300,000) will be available as a principal investigator instrument. The availability of all these instruments mounted simultaneously on the LBT permits unique science, flexible scheduling, and improved operational support.

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R. Mark Wagner "An overview of instrumentation for the Large Binocular Telescope", Proc. SPIE 7014, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II, 701409 (9 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789999

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