CIRCE is a near-infrared (1-2.5 micron) imager (including low-resolution spectroscopy and polarimetery) in operation as a visitor instrument on the Gran Telescopio Canarias 10.-4m tele scope. It was built largely by graduate students and postdocs, with help from the UF Astronomy engineering group, and is funded by the University of Florida and the U.S. National Science Foundation. CIRCE is helping to fill the gap in time between GTC first light and the arrival of EMIR, and will also provide the following scientific capabilities to compliment EMIR after its arrival: high-resolution imaging, narrowband imaging, high-time-resolution photometry, polarimetry, and low-resolution spectroscopy. There are already scientific results from CIRCE, some of which we will review. Additionally, we will go over the observing modes of CIRCE, including the two additional modes that were added during a service and upgrading run in March 2016.
CIRCE is a near-infrared (1-2.5 micron) imager, polarimeter and low-resolution spectrograph intended as a visitor instrument for the Gran Telescopio Canarias 10.-4m telescope. It was built largely by graduate students and postdocs, with help from the UF astronomy engineering group, and is funded by the University of Florida and the U.S. National Science Foundation. CIRCE is intended to help fill the gap in time between GTC first light and the arrival of EMIR, and will also provide the following scientific capabilities to compliment EMIR after its arrival: high- resolution imaging, narrowband imaging, high-time-resolution photometry, imaging- and spectro- polarimetry, low-resolution spectroscopy. In this poster, we review the lab testing results for CIRCE from 2013 and describe the instrument status (currently in shipment to GTC).
In this paper we present the results of image quality tests performed on the optical system of the Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE), a visitor-class near-IR imager, spectrograph, and polarimeter for the 10.4 meter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). The CIRCE optical system is comprised of eight gold-coated aluminum alloy 6061 mirrors. We present surface roughness analysis of each individual component as well as optical quality of the whole system. We found all individual mirror surface roughness are within specifications except Fold mirrors 1 and 2. We plan to have these components re-cut and re-coated. We used a flat 0.2-arcseconds pinhole mask placed in the focal plane of the telescope to perform the optical quality tests of the system. The pinhole mask covers the entire field of view of the instrument. The resulting image quality allows seeing-limited performance down to seeing of 0.3 arcseconds FWHM. We also observed that our optical system produces a negative field curvature, which compensates the field curvature of the Ritchey-Chretien GTC design once the instrument is on the telescope.
We report on the design, on-sky performance, and status of the FLAMINGOS-2 instrument – the fully-cryogenic facility
near-infrared imager and multi-object spectrograph for the Gemini 8-meter telescopes. FLAMINGOS-2 has a refractive
all-spherical optical system providing 0.18-arcsecond pixels and a 6.2-arcminute circular field-of-view on a 2048x2048-
pixel HAWAII-2 0.9-2.4 μm detector array. A slit/decker wheel mechanism allows the selection of up to 9 multi-object
laser-machined plates or 3 long slits for spectroscopy over a 6x2-arcminute field of view, and selectable grisms provide
resolutions from ~1300 to ~3000 over the entire spectrograph bandpass. FLAMINGOS-2 is also compatible with the
Gemini Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics system, providing multi-object spectroscopic capabilities over a 3x1-arcminute
field with high spatial resolution (0.09-arcsec/pixel). We review the designs of optical, mechanical, electronics,
software, and On-Instrument WaveFront Sensor subsystems. We also present the on-sky performance measured during
acceptance testing in 2009, as well as current status of the project and future plans.
In this paper we analyze different solutions to implement a fast photometry mode in the Canarias InfraRed Camera
Experiment (CIRCE), a visitor-class near-IR imager, spectrograph, and polarimeter for the 10.4 meter Gran Telescopio
Canarias (GTC). The fast photometry mode will be one of the enhanced capabilities of CIRCE that will differentiate our
instrument from similar instruments. The fast photometry capability, along with the polarimetric and spectroscopic
capabilities of the instrument will provide a unique instrument for the study of rapidly-varying objects. We combine the
different output modes of the HAWAII-2 2048x2048 detector, with very simple modifications in our already built Array
Controller Subsystem (MCE-3), and with modifications in the firmware of the readout control electronics to provide the
instrument with this powerful capability. We expect to increase the frame capture rate on the order of 5 to 14 times faster
depending on the frame size and the final solutions chosen.
We present the current status of the Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE) an all-reflective near-IR,
imager, spectrograph, and polarimeter for the 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). In particular, we
review the progress of the opto- and cryo- mechanical design and manufacture, focusing on the custom filter,
lyot, and grism wheels, lightweight optics, and mirror brackets. We also outline our progress with the optical
bench. Finally, we discuss a number of CIRCE's features that both complement and augment the planned suite
of GTC facility instruments.
We present the design for a high-speed readout imaging mode for the Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE), a
visitor-class near-IR imager, spectrograph, and polarimeter for the 10.4 meter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). This
mode, along with the polarimetric and spectroscopic capabilities of the instrument will provide a powerful and unique
instrument for the study of fast variability objects. Modification in the firmware of the readout control electronics of the
HAWAII-2 2048×2048 detector will allow us to select the effective detector size and hence reduce the readout time. We
present a description of the final design along with a discussion of potential future improvements.
The Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE) for the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) is one of the few infrared
instruments in the world using a four-beam polarimeter. The classical double-beam configuration consists of a half-wave
plate (HWP) and a Wollaston Prism (WP) that allow measurement of two linear polarization components of the
light in a single exposure. Instead, our instrument includes a WeDoWo - a dual-WP system with principal axis at 45
degrees that is inserted near the pupil plane. Thus, all linear Stokes parameters can be obtained in a single observation.
We can also perform medium-resolution (R=400-1500) spectro-polarimetry by inserting a grism in the beam. The
CIRCE focal plane mask includes three field stops for imaging polarimetry, three slits for spectropolarimetry and three
slits for regular spectroscopy of nearby sources. CIRCE also has a high-speed photometry mode that, combined with
polarimetry on a large telescope such as the GTC, will provide important insights into highly-variable sources such as
microquasars.
We report on the design status of the Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE), a near-infrared visitor
instrument for the 10.4 meter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). In addition to functioning as a 1-2.5 micron
imager, CIRCE will have the capacity for narrow-band imaging, low-and moderate- resolution grism spectroscopy,
and imaging polarimetry. CIRCE's all-reflective aspheric optical design offers excellent throughput and
image quality. We present an analysis of the optical layout and the progress of the opto-mechanical design and
manufacture.
The Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE) is a near-infrared visitor instrument for the 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). This document shows CIRCE software. It will have two major functions: instrument control and observatory interface. The instrument control software is based on the UFLIB library, currently used to operate FLAMINGOS-1 and T-ReCS (as well as the CanariCam and FLAMINGOS-2 instruments under development in the University of Florida). The software interface with the telescope will be based on a CORBA
server-client architecture. Finally, the user interface will consist of two java-based interfaces for the mechanism/detector control,
and for quick look and analysis of data.
LIRIS is a near-infrared (1-2.5 microns) intermediate resolution spectrograph (R=1000-3000) with added capabilities for multi-slit, imaging, coronography, and polarimetry, built by the IAC to be a common instrument for the WHT (La Palma). Here we report the results of the two commissioning periods. The image quality was checked, obtaining a FWHM of 0".5 in the Ks band over the whole field of view (4'.2 x 4'.2). Zero points and sky brightness were measured, and very low values were found in the latter. The long slit spectra obtained matched the expected spectral resolution (2.6 pixels for a 0".65-wide slit). Flexure tests were carried out with good results. Several science targets were observed, the most note-worthy result being the detection of the CIV 154.9 nm line in the most distant qso at z=6.41.
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