We have designed and tested an in-plane echelle spectrograph configured to investigate precision radial velocities from ground-based near-infrared observations. The spectrograph operates across the spectral range of 0.9–1.7 μm at a spectral resolution of R 1⁄4 50; 000, and uses a liquid nitrogen-cooled HAWAII 1 K detector. Repeated measurements of the Earth’s rotation via integrated sunlight wi...

This document provides an introduction to the Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) instrument, its observing modes, capabilities and to the required calibration observations. It has been prepared by the project scientist, Emeritus Professor Michael Dopita. Any questions, comments or grouses should be addressed to: [email protected]. Sections 2–9 describing the instrument are adapted from the...

We have analysed several multiwavelength optical observations (Hα, Hβ, Hǫ, Ca ii H & K, Ca ii IRT lines) of chromospherically active binary system OU Gem, taken in three observation runs: March 1996, April 1998 (using the SOFIN spectrograph and the Nordic Optical Telescope) and January 1999 (using the ESA-MUSICOS spectrograph and the Isaac Newton Telescope). The spectra show double Hα and Hβ ab...

A versatile spectrograph platform has been installed by University College London at the Adventdalen Observatory in Svalbard. The platform was primarily built to support the Southampton University study of proton aurora and smallscale auroral features. It has successfully recorded the spectral profile of the Doppler broadened H-beta emission line (486.1 nm) and observed the predicted red shifte...

At the 1998 SPIE meeting we described a cryogenic, high-resolution spectrograph (Phoenix) for use in the 1 { 5 m region. At that time Phoenix had been used at Kitt Peak for about a year. In the intervening two years we have worked extensively with the instrument and have modiied a few aspects of the design to bring the operational characteristics more closely into agreement with the original sp...

We report the serendipitous discovery of a supernova (SN) in the nearby radio-galaxy 3C 78. Observations obtained with the STIS spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope show, at a distance of 0.54 arcsec (300 pc) from the galaxy nucleus, a second bright source, not present in previous images. As this source was fortuitously covered by the spectrograph slit its spectrum was obtained and ...

We present transmission spectroscopy of the warm Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b made with the VeryLargeTelescopeFOcal ReducerandSpectrograph(FORS2) across the wavelength range 411–810 nm. The transit depth is measured with a typical precision of 240 parts per million (ppm) in wavelength bins of 10 nm on a V=12.1 mag star. We detect the sodium absorption feature (3.2σ) and find evidence ...

Improved wavelength calibrators for high-resolution astrophysical spectrographs will be essential for precision radial velocity (RV) detection of Earth-like exoplanets and direct observation of cosmological deceleration. The astro-comb is a combination of an octave-spanning femtosecond laser frequency comb and a Fabry-Pérot cavity used to achieve calibrator line spacings that can be resolved by...

The XENON100 experiment uses 161kg of liquid xenon divided in two concentric cylinders. The inner volume is the time-projection chamber, the outer volume is the veto, and they are separated by PTFE (Teflon) panels. In the region 350nm to 1200nm, PTFE has a measured reflectivity of 99%. However, xenon emits in the UV region, and the reflectivity distribution is not sufficiently understood here. ...

For transverse profile determination a non-intercepting Beam Induced Fluorescence (BIF)-monitor was developed. The BIF-monitor detects fluorescence light emitted by residual gas molecules after atomic collisions with beam ions [1]. Using an imaging spectrograph the spectral response was mapped and associated with the corresponding gas transitions in helium, argon, krypton, xenon and nitrogen. S...