The Brazilian tunable filter imager for SOAR

Keith Taylor; Cláudia Mendes de Oliveira; Rene Laporte; Christian Dani Guzman; Javier Ramirez Fernandez; Sergio Scarano Jr.; Giseli Ramos; Henri Plana; Fernando Eduardo Lourenco; Jean-Luc Gach; Fernando Luis Fontes; Fabricio Ferrari; Luiz Cavalcanti; Edna Carolina Gutierrez Castañeda; Alvaro de Calasans; Philippe Balard; Philippe Amram; Denis Andrade

doi:10.1117/12.857657

20 July 2010 The Brazilian tunable filter imager for SOAR

Keith Taylor, Cláudia Mendes de Oliveira, Rene Laporte, Christian Dani Guzman, Javier Ramirez Fernandez, Sergio Scarano Jr., Giseli Ramos, Henri Plana, Fernando Eduardo Lourenco, Jean-Luc Gach, Fernando Luis Fontes, Fabricio Ferrari, Luiz Cavalcanti, Edna Carolina Gutierrez Castañeda, Alvaro de Calasans, Philippe Balard, Philippe Amram, Denis Andrade

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7739, Modern Technologies in Space- and Ground-based Telescopes and Instrumentation; 77394U (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857657
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

A scientific and engineering team led by the Department of Astronomy of the IAG, at the University of São Paulo, is engaged in the development of a highly versatile, new technology, optical imaging interferometer to be used both in seeing-limited mode and at high spatial resolution using the SOAR Adaptive Optics Module (SAM: the GLAO facility for the SOAR telescope). Such an instrument opens up important new science capabilities for the SOAR astronomical community: from studies of nearby galaxies and the ISM to statistical cosmological investigations. The Brazilian Tunable Filter Imager (BTFI) concept takes advantage of two new technologies that have been successfully demonstrated in the laboratory environment but have yet to be deployed in any astronomical instrument. The iBTF (imaging Bragg Tunable Filter) concept utilizes a Volume Phase Holographic Grating in double-pass configuration (Blais-Ouellette et al. 2006¹) while the new Fabry-Perot concept involves the use of commercially available technology allowing a single etalon to act over a very large range of interference orders. Both technologies will be used in the same instrument. The combination allows for highly versatile capabilities. Spectral resolutions spanning the full range between 5 and 35,000 can be achieved in the same instrument through the use of iBTF at low resolution and scanning Fabry-Perots beyond R ~2,000 with some overlap in the mid-range. The instrument is being developed in collaboration with several other Brazilian Institutions (Poli/USP, INPE, LNA and Unipampa) and international collaborations with the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille and the University of Montreal. The reader is directed to the URL http://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~btfi/index.php for a full representation of the project and its current status. The instrument should see first light, mounted on the SOAR telescope, as a visiting instrument, on semester 2010B.

Citation Download Citation

Keith Taylor, Cláudia Mendes de Oliveira, Rene Laporte, Christian Dani Guzman, Javier Ramirez Fernandez, Sergio Scarano Jr., Giseli Ramos, Henri Plana, Fernando Eduardo Lourenco, Jean-Luc Gach, Fernando Luis Fontes, Fabricio Ferrari, Luiz Cavalcanti, Edna Carolina Gutierrez Castañeda, Alvaro de Calasans, Philippe Balard, Philippe Amram, and Denis Andrade "The Brazilian tunable filter imager for SOAR", Proc. SPIE 7739, Modern Technologies in Space- and Ground-based Telescopes and Instrumentation, 77394U (20 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857657

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