The "+" for CRIRES: enabling better science at infrared wavelength and high spectral resolution at the ESO VLT

Reinhold J. Dorn; Roman Follert; Paul Bristow; Claudio Cumani; Siegfried Eschbaumer; Jason Grunhut; Andreas Haimerl; Artie Hatzes; Ulrike Heiter; Renate Hinterschuster; Derek J. Ives; Yves Jung; Florian Kerber; Barbara Klein; Alexis Lavail; Jean Louis Lizon; Tom Löwinger; Ignacio Molina-Conde; Belinda Nicholson; Thomas Marquart; Ernesto Oliva; Livia Origlia; Luca Pasquini; Jérôme Paufique; Nikolai Piskunov; Ansgar Reiners; Ulf Seemann; Jörg Stegmeier; Eric Stempels; Sebastien Tordo

doi:10.1117/12.2232837

9 August 2016 The "+" for CRIRES: enabling better science at infrared wavelength and high spectral resolution at the ESO VLT

Reinhold J. Dorn, Roman Follert, Paul Bristow, Claudio Cumani, Siegfried Eschbaumer, Jason Grunhut, Andreas Haimerl, Artie Hatzes, Ulrike Heiter, Renate Hinterschuster, Derek J. Ives, Yves Jung, Florian Kerber, Barbara Klein, Alexis Lavail, Jean Louis Lizon, Tom Löwinger, Ignacio Molina-Conde, Belinda Nicholson, Thomas Marquart, Ernesto Oliva, Livia Origlia, Luca Pasquini, Jérôme Paufique, Nikolai Piskunov, Ansgar Reiners, Ulf Seemann, Jörg Stegmeier, Eric Stempels, Sebastien Tordo

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9908, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI; 99080I (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232837
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

The adaptive optics (AO) assisted CRIRES instrument is an IR (0.92 - 5.2 μm) high-resolution spectrograph was in operation from 2006 to 2014 at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) observatory. CRIRES was a unique instrument, accessing a parameter space (wavelength range and spectral resolution) up to now largely uncharted. It consisted of a single-order spectrograph providing long-slit (40 arcsecond) spectroscopy with a resolving power up to R=100 000. However the setup was limited to a narrow, single-shot, spectral range of about 1/70 of the central wavelength, resulting in low observing efficiency for many scientific programmes requiring a broad spectral coverage. The CRIRES upgrade project, CRIRES⁺, transforms this VLT instrument into a cross-dispersed spectrograph to increase the simultaneously covered wavelength range by a factor of ten. A new and larger detector focal plane array of three Hawaii 2RG detectors with 5.3 μm cut-off wavelength will replace the existing detectors. For advanced wavelength calibration, custom-made absorption gas cells and an etalon system will be added. A spectro-polarimetric unit will allow the recording of circular and linear polarized spectra. This upgrade will be supported by dedicated data reduction software allowing the community to take full advantage of the new capabilities offered by CRIRES⁺. CRIRES⁺ has now entered its assembly and integration phase and will return with all new capabilities by the beginning of 2018 to the Very Large Telescope in Chile. This article will provide the reader with an update of the current status of the instrument as well as the remaining steps until final installation at the Paranal Observatory.

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Reinhold J. Dorn, Roman Follert, Paul Bristow, Claudio Cumani, Siegfried Eschbaumer, Jason Grunhut, Andreas Haimerl, Artie Hatzes, Ulrike Heiter, Renate Hinterschuster, Derek J. Ives, Yves Jung, Florian Kerber, Barbara Klein, Alexis Lavail, Jean Louis Lizon, Tom Löwinger, Ignacio Molina-Conde, Belinda Nicholson, Thomas Marquart, Ernesto Oliva, Livia Origlia, Luca Pasquini, Jérôme Paufique, Nikolai Piskunov, Ansgar Reiners, Ulf Seemann, Jörg Stegmeier, Eric Stempels, and Sebastien Tordo "The "+" for CRIRES: enabling better science at infrared wavelength and high spectral resolution at the ESO VLT", Proc. SPIE 9908, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, 99080I (9 August 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232837

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