Spectrographs
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We custom design and manufacture spectrographs for teaching and research. Key Benefits
Fiber-Fed Bench Mounted Spectrograph Our bench-mounted fiber-fed spectrographs
are true research-grade instruments. They consist of two parts: the fiber head and
calibration unit at the telescope and the spectrograph optics in a controlled environment.
The fiber head has eight fibers mounted into a polished plate which is inclined at 10° to the optical axis. This permits real-time acquisition and off-axis guiding. When the ACE Mirror Slide is placed into the beam calibration sources (typically Th-Ar and quartz) are directed off the rear of the sliding mirror. The main spectrograph is mounted on a 1200x2400 mm Newport optical bench, located in a walk-in cold room. The entrance fiber plate can be adjusted on a rotation plus XYZ stage which also takes a laser for alignment. An off-axis parabola is used to collimate the light. The interchangeable reflection gratings are precision mounted in cells and located on a computer-controlled rotating turntable using dowel pins. A typical system has four gratings and a plain mirror for alignment. By interchanging camera lenses both high and low resolution modes can be realized. The camera focus is also under computer control. These systems operate in the wavelength range 4000 - 9100 A with resolutions of 4-20 A/mm in the high resolution mode and 11-50 A/mm in the low resolution mode, depending on the lines/mm of the grating chosen.
Telescope Mounted SpectrographACE designers have previous experience in spectrograph design and fabrication, from scanning Fabry-Perot systems to modular spectrographs. We are currently manufacturing a medium resolution spectrograph for the 1.8-m f/9 Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope. This spectrograph has been designed into removable modules. The main modules are (along the order of the light path) a dark slide, the slit plate, the collimator, an optional polarimeter, the grating rotator, the camera, the shutter, and the CCD mount. The models shown below are beta release. The parts will be manufactured in 2004. The SLIT module with 1.0, 1.5 and 1.5 arc-second slits.
The CAMERA module
Spectrograph Software
We can provide software for the robotic spectrograph control or we can interface with your team so we select intelligent motors and controls that are compatible with your own software requirements.
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