In preparation for the operational phase of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA has created the Coronagraph Community Participation Program (CPP) to prepare for and execute Coronagraph Instrument technology demonstration observations. The CPP is composed of 7 small, US-based teams, selected competitively via the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Research and Support Participation Opportunity, members of the Roman Project Team, and international partner teams from ESA, JAXA, CNES, and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. The primary goals of the CPP are to prepare simulation tools, target databases, and data reduction software for the execution of the Coronagraph Instrument observation phase. Here, we present the current status of the CPP and its working groups, along with plans for future CPP activities up through Roman’s launch. We also discuss plans to potentially enable future commissioning of currently-unsupported modes.
Working in harmony with Wenaokeao, a combination of the ESPaDOnS and SPIROU visible and infrared spectropolarimeters, an IFU at CFHT would complete a spectrographic instrument suite with broad application, welltailored to the rapid follow-up observations of newly discovered multi-messenger targets. The CFHT IFU will leverage the DESI spectrograph design, baselining a single ~500 fiber array feeding one DESI spectrograph, with the possibility of future upgrade to a second identical IFU and spectrograph. The IFU will have a 3' patrol field allowing it to be used simultaneously with Wenaokeao on deep objects requiring long integration times, possibly over repeated visits, over a field subordinate to the primary target defined by the Wenaokeao observations. This paper describes a preliminary concept for the IFU format, the off-axis coma corrector, ADC, and transfer optics needed to efficiently couple light into the spectrograph.
The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) project will provide multi-object spectroscopy in the optical and near-infrared bands using an 11.25-m aperture telescope, repurposing the original Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope site. MSE will observe 4332 objects per single exposure with a field of view of 1.5 square degrees, utilizing two spectrographs with low-moderate (R∼3000, 6000) and high (R≈30,000) spectral resolution. In general, an exposure time calculator (ETC) is used to estimate the performance of an observing system by calculating the signal- to-noise ratio (S/N) and exposure time. We present the design of the MSE ETC, which has four calculation modes (S/N, exposure time, S/N trend with wavelength, and S/N trend with magnitude) and incorporates the MSE system requirements as specified in the conceptual design. The MSE ETC currently allows for user-defined inputs of the target AB magnitude, water vapor, air mass, and sky brightness AB magnitude (additional user inputs can be provided depending on the computational mode). The ETC is built using Python 3.7 and features a graphical user interface that allows for cross-platform use. The development process of the ETC software follows an Agile methodology and utilizes the unified modeling language diagrams to visualize the software architecture. We also describe the testing and verification of the MSE ETC.
Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) is a telescope dedicated to multi-fibers spectroscopy and IFUs observations of the sky. Program Execution System Architecture (PESA) is one of the systems of MSE, responsible for planning, executing, reducing, and distributing science products from survey programs. Work is being done to design PESA in a modular way to include several sophisticated software tools, organized into an operational framework. This paper describes the first step of its organization and the concepts that will be used in the development of PESA.
The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) will convert the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) into an 11.25-m primary aperture telescope with a 1.5 square degrees field-of-view at the prime focus. It will produce multi-object spectroscopy with a suite of low (R∼3,000), moderate (R∼6,000), and high (R∼40,000) spectral resolution spectrographs in optical and near-infrared bands that are capable of detecting over 4,000 objects per pointing. Generally, an exposure time calculator (ETC) should simulate a system performance by computing a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and exposure time based on parameters such as a target magnitude, a total throughput of the system, and sky conditions, etc. The ETC that we have developed for MSE has individual computation modes for SNR, exposure time, SNR as a function of AB magnitude, and SNR as a function of wavelength. The code is based on an agile development methodology and allows for a variety of user input. Users must select either LR, MR, or HR spectral resolution settings in order to pull the associated MSE instrument parameters. Additionally, users must specify the target and background sky magnitudes (and have the ability to alter the default airmass and water vapor values). The software is developed with Python 3.7, and Tkinter graphical user interface is implemented to facilitate cross-platform use. In this paper, we present the logic structure and various functionalities of our MSE-ETC, including a software design and a demonstration.
MSE/CFHT plan to develop an end-to-end Pathfinder or for the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE). The MSE Project office is developing a new massively multiplexed spectroscopic facility on the site of the existing CFHT. MSE has currently passed its externally vetted Conceptual Design Stage. It will be a minimum 11-meter aperture telescope feeding 4000-10,000 fibers mated to a battery of medium and high-resolution spectrographs in the visible and NIR. The goal of the Pathfinder will be to fast-track technology development for MSE by demonstrating on-sky the ability of the major components of MSE and the major software packages in parallel with producing an initial science product that can be shared with the community. Among the primary science goals of the Pathfinder are time-domain astrophysics, specifically spectroscopic follow-up of transients identified by facilities such as Rubin Observatory and Zwicky Transient Factory to optimize their identification and classification; galactic archeology; and the spectroscopy of stars for stellar abundance studies and stellar evolution studies. The end-to-end Pathfinder will be a multi-object spectrograph fed at prime focus from the Canada France Hawaii telescope. It will utilize the same MSE spectrograph design with a multiplexing of ~800-1400 fibers using the same fiber positioner technology as MSE. The Pathfinder will prototype the software architecture for MSE including, scheduling; targeting; data reduction and analysis; and data management, archiving and database manipulation.
The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) project will transform the CFHT 3.6m optical telescope into an 11.25m multi-object spectroscopic facility with a 1.5 square degrees field of view. It will get the ability to simultaneously measure 4,332 objects with two spectral resolution modes respectively low/moderate resolution of R=3,000/6,000, and high resolution of R≥30,000. Multi-object high resolution (HR) spectrographs take the challenge of simultaneously producing a thousand high-resolution spectra respectively at blue, green, and red channels. A few different optical designs have been investigated deeply by scientific and technical groups since 2018. With the trade-off studies between science cases and technical capability in dispersers, the paper describes a new design proposal based on using the echelle gratings and taking reference to the industrialized production process. It enables to reduce the technical risk in dispersers and switch the observing wavelength bandpasses quickly by sorting filters.
MSE is a massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility that will replace the Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope. This 11.25-m telescope, with its 1.5 square degrees field-of-view, will observe 4,332 astronomical targets in every pointing by using fibers to pick up the light at the prime focus w and transmitting it to banks of low/moderate (R=3,000/6,000) and high (R=30,000) resolution spectrographs. Piezo actuators position individual fibers in the field of view to enable simultaneous full field coverage for both resolution modes. A Calibration system ensures good quality and reliable raw data. This instrument suite, dedicated to large scale surveys, will enable MSE to collect a massive amount of data: equivalent to a full SDSS Legacy Survey every 7 weeks. Since 2018, MSE has made progress by refining the science cases, exploring design space for the instrumentation and understanding the limits of chosen telescope and instrument architecture to achieve the science cases. To improve performance and reduce risk, challenging conceptual designs for spectrographs have been reconsidered. As well, the science calibration plan and associated technical hardware system have been developed to a conceptual design level. This paper includes a discussion of the trades, design decisions and outstanding risks for the entire instrument suite with a focus on recent developments for the spectrographs and calibration system.
Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) is the first of the future generation of massively multiplexed spectroscopic facilities. MSE is designed to enable transformative science, being completely dedicated to large-scale multi-object spectroscopic surveys. MSE’s conceptual design includes an 11.25 m aperture telescope which feeds 4,332 fibers over a wide 1.52 square degree field of view. Its spectrographs will have the capabilities to observe at a range of spectral resolutions, from R~3,000 to R~40,000, with all spectral resolutions available at all times and across the entire field. As a dedicated survey facility, MSE must be able to efficiently execute a wide variety of scientific programs at the same time. Here we describe continued planning to execute MSE’s Design Reference Survey, an exercise to plan for and simulate a sample of potential first-generation science programs that exercise the design parameters of the spectroscopic facility.
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