Simulating observations with HARMONI: the integral field spectrograph for the European Extremely Large Telescope

Simon Zieleniewski; Niranjan Thatte; Sarah Kendrew; Ryan Houghton; Matthias Tecza; Fraser Clarke; Thierry Fusco; Mark Swinbank

doi:10.1117/12.2055578

28 July 2014 Simulating observations with HARMONI: the integral field spectrograph for the European Extremely Large Telescope

Simon Zieleniewski, Niranjan Thatte, Sarah Kendrew, Ryan Houghton, Matthias Tecza, Fraser Clarke, Thierry Fusco, Mark Swinbank

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9147, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V; 914793 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055578
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

With the next generation of extremely large telescopes commencing construction, there is an urgent need for detailed quantitative predictions of the scientific observations that these new telescopes will enable. Most of these new telescopes will have adaptive optics fully integrated with the telescope itself, allowing unprecedented spatial resolution combined with enormous sensitivity. However, the adaptive optics point spread function will be strongly wavelength dependent, requiring detailed simulations that accurately model these variations. We have developed a simulation pipeline for the HARMONI integral field spectrograph, a first light instrument for the European Extremely Large Telescope. The simulator takes high-resolution input data-cubes of astrophysical objects and processes them with accurate atmospheric, telescope and instrumental effects, to produce mock observed cubes for chosen observing parameters. The output cubes represent the result of a perfect data reduc- tion process, enabling a detailed analysis and comparison between input and output, showcasing HARMONI’s capabilities. The simulations utilise a detailed knowledge of the telescope’s wavelength dependent adaptive op- tics point spread function. We discuss the simulation pipeline and present an early example of the pipeline functionality for simulating observations of high redshift galaxies.

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Simon Zieleniewski, Niranjan Thatte, Sarah Kendrew, Ryan Houghton, Matthias Tecza, Fraser Clarke, Thierry Fusco, and Mark Swinbank "Simulating observations with HARMONI: the integral field spectrograph for the European Extremely Large Telescope", Proc. SPIE 9147, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V, 914793 (28 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055578

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