Since the start of science operations in 1993, the twin 10-meter W. M. Keck Observatory (WMKO) telescopes have continued to maximize their scientific impact and to produce transformative discoveries that keep the observing community on the frontiers of astronomical research. Upgraded capabilities and new instrumentation are provided though collaborative partnerships with Caltech, the University of California, and the University of Hawaii instrument development teams, as well as industry and other organizations. This paper summarizes the performance of recently commissioned infrastructure projects, technology upgrades, and new additions to the suite of observatory instrumentation. We also provide a status of projects currently in design or development phases and, since we keep our eye on the future, summarize projects in exploratory phases that originate from our 2022 strategic plan developed in collaboration with our science community to adapt and respond to evolving science needs.
The Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) is a new facility instrument being developed for the W. M. Keck Observatory
and funded for construction by the Telescope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP) of the National Science
Foundation (NSF). KCWI is a bench-mounted spectrograph for the Keck II right Nasmyth focal station, providing
integral field spectroscopy over a seeing-limited field up to 20"x33" in extent. Selectable Volume Phase Holographic
(VPH) gratings provide high efficiency and spectral resolution in the range of 1000 to 20000. The dual-beam design of
KCWI passed a Preliminary Design Review in summer 2011. The detailed design of the KCWI blue channel (350 to
700 nm) is now nearly complete, with the red channel (530 to 1050 nm) planned for a phased implementation contingent
upon additional funding. KCWI builds on the experience of the Caltech team in implementing the Cosmic Web Imager
(CWI), in operation since 2009 at Palomar Observatory. KCWI adds considerable flexibility to the CWI design, and will
take full advantage of the excellent seeing and dark sky above Mauna Kea with a selectable nod-and-shuffle observing
mode. In this paper, models of the expected KCWI sensitivity and background subtraction capability are presented,
along with a detailed description of the instrument design. The KCWI team is lead by Caltech (project management,
design and implementation) in partnership with the University of California at Santa Cruz (camera optical and
mechanical design) and the W. M. Keck Observatory (program oversight and observatory interfaces).
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