BlueMUSE is an integral field spectrograph in an early development stage for the ESO VLT. For our design of the data reduction software for this instrument, we are first reviewing capabilities and issues of the pipeline of the existing MUSE instrument. MUSE has been in operation at the VLT since 2014 and led to discoveries published in more than 600 refereed scientific papers. While BlueMUSE and MUSE have many common properties we briefly point out a few key differences between both instruments. We outline a first version of the flowchart for the science reduction, and discuss the necessary changes due to the blue wavelength range covered by BlueMUSE. We also detail specific new features, for example, how the pipeline and subsequent analysis will benefit from improved handling of the data covariance, and a more integrated approach to the line-spread function, as well as improvements regarding the wavelength calibration which is of extra importance in the blue optical range. We finally discuss how simulations of BlueMUSE datacubes are being implemented and how they will be used to prepare the science of the instrument.
BlueMUSE is a novel instrument under development for the ESO VLT, that builds on the legacy of MUSE, however with a blue wavelength range, a larger field-of-view (FoV), and higher spectral resolution. Driven by high-profile and unique science cases, the requirements present new challenges to the development of the instrument, although the fundamental layout will be based on the successful modular structure of the classical MUSE. In order to achieve the expected mean spectral resolution of R=3600 and radial velocity measurement accuracy of better than 1 km/s, as well as spectrophotometric performance, BlueMUSE must be equipped with a calibration unit to perform accurate wavelength, flat-field, and geometrical calibration. Lessons learned from MUSE show that the variation of the line-spread-function (LSF) across the FoV as a consequence of the field-splitter and image slicer layout requires a methodology to accurately measure the LSF as a function of x and y. Moreover, classical spectral line lamps that have been used traditionally for wavelength calibration present the problem of a scarce emission line coverage in the blue. BlueMUSE has entered pre-Phase-A in 2022. We report first results from conceptual design studies to address these challenges, in particular concepts of Fabry-Perot based tunable frequency combs, and as an alternative approach novel concepts with laser frequency combs or micro-ring resonator based combs in the blue.
KEYWORDS: Planets, Adaptive optics, Stars, Spatial resolution, Planetary systems, Near infrared, Spectrographs, Point spread functions, Image resolution, Iterated function systems
We present recent results obtained with the VLT/MUSE Integral Field Spectrograph fed by the 4LGSF and its laser tomography adaptive optics module GALACSI. While this so-called narrow-field mode of MUSE was not designed to perform directly imaging of exoplanets and outflows, we show that it can be a game changer to detect and characterize young exoplanets with a prominent emission lines (i.e Hα, tracer of accretion), at moderate contrasts. These performances are achieved thanks to the combo of a near-diffraction limited PSF and a medium resolution spectrograph and a cross-correlation approach in post-processing . We discuss this in the context of ground and space, infrared and visible wavelengths, preparing for missions like JWST and WFIRST in great synergy and as pathfinder for future ELT/GSMT (Extremely Large and/or Giant Segmented Mirror Telescopes) instruments.
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