The Mid-Infrared Multi-field Imager for gaZing at the UnKnown Universe (MIMIZUKU) is developed as the first-generation mid-infrared instrument for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) 6.5-m telescope. MIMIZUKU performs medium-band imaging and low-resolution spectroscopy in 2-38 microns and enables highest-spatial-resolution observations in the long-wavelength mid-infrared beyond 25 microns. In addition, MIMIZUKU has a unique opto-mechanical device called ‘Field Stacker’, which enables us to observe a distant (<25 arcminutes) pair of target and reference objects simultaneously and improves accuracy of atmospheric calibration. This function is expected to improve photometric accuracy and quality of spectroscopic data even in the long-wavelength mid-infrared regions, where the atmospheric absorption is severe. In 2018, engineering observations of MIMIZUKU were carried out at the Subaru telescope, and its first-light was successfully achieved. In the engineering observations, the imaging and spectroscopic functions in the mid-infrared wavelengths (7.6-25 microns) were confirmed to be working almost as expected, although the sensitivity is still worse than the background-limited performance by a factor of a few due to high readout noise. The Field Stacker was also confirmed to be working as expected. It is confirmed that the photometric instability can be reduced to a few percent by using Field Stacker even when the atmospheric transmittance varies by 10% in time. It is also confirmed that spectroscopic observations can be performed not only in 10-micron band but also in 20-micron band, where the spectroscopic observations are difficult even at the Mauna Kea site. We report the results of these on-sky performance evaluations.
We are developing an image-slicer type integral field unit (IFU), SWIMS-IFU, for SWIMS (Simultaneous-color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph), a near-infrared instrument for TAO 6.5 m telescope. SWIMS- IFU divides a field-of-view of 16:006 12:008 into 26 slices with a width of 0:005, which is the largest FoV among near-infrared IFUs on 8 m class telescopes. It is also capable of obtaining entire near-infrared spectra from 0.9 to 2.5 m with R1000 with a single exposure. Because of limitations of space in SWIMS, SWIMS-IFU should fit in a volume of 170 x 220 x 60 mm3, which results in small and complicatedly aligned mirror facets. To reduce alignment procedures, we adopt an ultra-precision cutting technique to fabricate mirror arrays monolithically. We have completed one of the mirror arrays, the slit-mirror array which consists of 26 spherical mirror facets, and confirmed both their surface roughness and shape errors satisfy the requirements. We also have fabricated a prototype of the pupil-mirror array including some elliptical mirror facets and confirmed that the elliptical mirrors have enough surface qualities and produce better image quality than spherical ones by a pinhole imaging test.
The Simultaneous-color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph (SWIMS) is one of the 1st generation facility instruments for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) 6.5 m telescope currently being constructed at the summit of Cerro Chajnantor (5,640 m altitude) in northern Chile. SWIMS has two optical arms, the blue arm covering 0.9–1.4 µm and the red 1.4–2.5 µm, by inserting a dichroic mirror into the collimated beam, and thus is capable of taking images in two filter-bands simultaneously in imaging mode, or whole nearinfrared (0.9–2.5 µm) low-to-medium resolution multi-object spectra in spectroscopy (MOS) mode, both with a single exposure. SWIMS was carried into Subaru Telescope in 2017 for performance evaluation prior to completion of the construction of the 6.5 m telescope, and successfully saw the imaging first light in May 2018 and MOS first light in Jan 2019. After three engineering runs including the first light observations, SWIMS has been accepted as a new PI instrument for Subaru Telescope from the semester S21A until S22B. In this paper, we report on details of on-sky performance of the instrument evaluated during the engineering observations for a total of 7.5 nights.
SWIMS-IFU is an image-slicer integral field unit designed for Simultaneous-color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph (SWIMS) of the University of Tokyo Atacama observatory 6.5m telescope. Its field-of-view, slice width and slice number are 17.2 ′′ × 12.8 ′′, 0.4 ′′ and 26, respectively. Due to the space limitation inside SWIMS, the IFU should fit in the dimension of 60mm×170mm×220mm. After finishing development of optical design, we have conducted tolerance analysis. The results show that the probability of vignetting of less than 5% is ∼90%, although at a slice of one side it drops to 50%. We plan to fabricate the mirror arrays monolithically by a ball-end milling with an ultra-high precision machine tool, and have conducted a demonstration process to prove its feasibility. Our requirement for shape error is less than 100 nm P-V and that for surface roughness is less than 10 nm r.m.s. Results of the latest demonstration satisfies the requirement. We will fabricate the mirror arrays and the support structures in 2018, and the IFU will be installed into SWIMS in 2019.
The Mid-Infrared Multi-field Imager for gaZing at the UnKnown Universe (MIMIZUKU) is a mid-infrared camera and spectrograph developed as a first-generation instrument on the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) 6.5-m telescope. MIMIZUKU covers a wide wavelength range from 2 to 38 μm and has a unique optical device called Field Stacker which realizes accurate calibration of variable atmospheric transmittance with a few percent accuracy. By utilizing these capabilities, MIMIZUKU realizes mid-infrared long-term monitoring, which has not been challenged well. MIMIZUKU has three optical channels, called NIR, MIR-S, and MIR-L, to realize the wide wavelength coverage. The MIR-S channel, which covers 6.8–26 μm, has been completed by now. We are planning to perform engineering observations with this channel at the Subaru telescope before the completion of the TAO 6.5-m telescope. In this paper, we report the results of the laboratory tests to evaluate the optical and detector performances of the MIR-S channel. As a result, we confirmed a pixel scale of 0.12 arcsec/pix and a vignetting- free field of view of 2./0 1./8. The instrument throughputs for imaging modes are measured to be 20–30%. Those for N - and Q -band spectroscopy modes are 17 and 5%, respectively. As for the detector performance, we derived the quantum efficiency to be 40–50% in the mid-infrared wavelength region and measured the readout noise to be 3000–6000 electrons, which are larger than the spec value. It was found that this large readout noise degrades the sensitivity of MIMIZUKU by a factor of two.
The Simultaneous-color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph, SWIMS, is a first-generation near-infrared instrument for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) 6.5m Telescope now being constructed in northern Chile. To utilize the advantage of the site that almost continuous atmospheric window appears from
0.9 to 2.5 μm, the instrument is capable of simultaneous two-color imaging with a field-of-view of 9.′6 in diameter or λ/▵λ 1000 multi-object spectroscopy at 0.9–2.5 μm in a single exposure. The instrument has been trans- ported in 2017 to the Subaru Telescope as a PI-type instrument for carrying out commissioning observations before starting science operation on the 6.5m telescope. In this paper, we report the latest updates on the instrument and present preliminary results from the on-sky performance verification observations.
MIMIZUKU is the first-generation mid-infrared instrument for the university of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) 6.5-m telescope. MIMIZUKU provides imaging and spectroscopic monitoring capabilities in a wide wavelength range from 2 to 38 μm, including unique bands like 2.7-μm and 30-μm band. Recently, we decided to add spectroscopic functions, KL-band mode (λ= 2.1-4.0 μm; R =λ/Δλ ~ 210) and 2.7-μm band mode ( λ= 2.4-2.95 μm; R ~ 620), and continuous spectroscopic coverage from 2.1 to 26 μm is realized by this update. Their optical designing is completed, and fabrications of optical elements are ongoing. As recent progress, we also report the completion of the cryogenic system and optics. The cryogenic system has been updated by changing materials and structures of thermal links, and the temperatures of the optical bench and detector mounting stages finally achieved required temperatures. Their stability against instrument attitude is also confirmed through an inclination test. As for the optics, its gold-plated mirrors have been recovered from galvanic corrosion by refabrication and reconstruction. Enough image quality and stability are confirmed by room-temperature tests. MIMIZUKU is intended to be completed in this autumn, and commissioning at the Subaru telescope and scientific operations on the TAO telescope are planned in 2017 and around 2019, respectively. In this paper, these development activities and future prospects of MIMIZUKU are reported.
Simultaneous-color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph, SWIMS, is one of the first generation instruments for University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory 6.5m Telescope where almost continuous atmospheric window from 0.9 to 2.5μm appears, thanks to the high altitude and dry climate of the site. To utilize this excellent condition, SWIMS is capable of simultaneous two-color imaging with a field of view of 9’. in diameter and λ/Δλ ~1000 multi-object spectroscopy at 0.9–2.5μm in a single exposure, utilizing a dichroic mirror inserted in the collimated beam. Here, we overview the instrument, report results of its full-assembly tests in the laboratory and present the future plan.
SWIMS (Simultaneous-color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph) is a near-infrared imager and multi-object spectrograph as one of the first generation instruments for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) 6.5m telescope. In this paper, we describe an array control system of SWIMS and results of detector noise performance evaluation. SWIMS incorporates four (and eight in future) HAWAII-2RG focal plane arrays for detectors, each driven by readout electronics components: a SIDECAR ASIC and a JADE2 Card. The readout components are controlled by a HAWAII-2RG Testing Software running on a virtual Windows machine on a Linux PC called array control PC. All of those array control PCs are then supervised by a SWIMS control PC. We have developed an "array control software system", which runs on the array control PC to control the HAWAII-2RG Testing Software, and consists of a socket client and a dedicated server called device manager. The client runs on the SWIMS control PC, and the device manager runs on the array control PC. An exposure command, issued by the client on the SWIMS control PC, is sent to the multiple device managers on the array control PCs, and then multiple HAWAII-2RGs are driven simultaneously. Using this system, we evaluate readout noise performances of the detectors, both in a test dewar and in a SWIMS main dewar. In the test dewar, we confirm the readout noise to be 4.3 e- r.m.s. by 32 times multiple sampling when we operate only a single HAWAII-2RG, whereas in the case of simultaneous driving of two HAWAII-2RGs, we still obtain sufficiently low readout noise of 10 e- r.m.s. In the SWIMS main dewar, although there are some differences between the detectors, the readout noise is measured to be 4:1−4:6 e- r.m.s. with simultaneous driving by 64 times multiple sampling, which meets the requirement for background-limited observations in J band of 14 e- r.m.s..
We describe overview of fabrication methods and measurement results of test fabrications of optical surfaces for an integral field unit (IFU) for Simultaneous color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph, SWIMS, which is a first-generation instrument for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory 6.5-m telescope. SWIMS-IFU provides entire near-infrared spectrum from 0.9 to 2.5 μm simultaneously covering wider field of view of 17" × 13" compared with current near-infrared IFUs. We investigate an ultra-precision cutting technique to monolithically fabricate optical surfaces of IFU optics such as an image slicer. Using 4- or 5-axis ultra precision machine we compare the milling process and shaper cutting process to find the best way of fabrication of image slicers. The measurement results show that the surface roughness almost satisfies our requirement in both of two methods. Moreover, we also obtain ideal surface form in the shaper cutting process. This method will be adopted to other mirror arrays (i.e. pupil mirror and slit mirror, and such monolithic fabrications will also help us to considerably reduce alignment procedure of each optical elements.
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