Twin High-Resolution, High-Speed Imagers for the Gemini Telescopes: Instrument Description and Science Verification Results
Two new imaging instruments, ‘Alopeke and Zorro, were designed, built, and commissioned at the Gemini-North and Gemini-South telescopes in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Here we describe them and present the results from over a year of operation. The two identical instruments are based on the legacy o...
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2021-09-01
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doaj-e2c75e62dca448eea8871235c7c1d1ed2021-09-04T08:50:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences2296-987X2021-09-01810.3389/fspas.2021.716560716560Twin High-Resolution, High-Speed Imagers for the Gemini Telescopes: Instrument Description and Science Verification ResultsNicholas J. Scott0Steve B. Howell1Crystal L. Gnilka2Andrew W. Stephens3Ricardo Salinas4Rachel A. Matson5Elise Furlan6Elliott P. Horch7Mark E. Everett8David R. Ciardi9Dave Mills10Emmett A. Quigley11NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United StatesNASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United StatesNASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United StatesGemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab, Hilo, HI, United StatesGemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab, La Serena, ChileUnited States Naval Observatory, Washington, DC, United StatesNASA Exoplanet Science Institute, Caltech IPAC, Pasadena, CA, United StatesDepartment of Physics, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, United StatesNational Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ, United StatesNASA Exoplanet Science Institute, Caltech IPAC, Pasadena, CA, United StatesNational Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ, United StatesNASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United StatesTwo new imaging instruments, ‘Alopeke and Zorro, were designed, built, and commissioned at the Gemini-North and Gemini-South telescopes in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Here we describe them and present the results from over a year of operation. The two identical instruments are based on the legacy of the DSSI (Differential Speckle Survey Instrument) instrument, successfully used for years at the WIYN and the Gemini telescopes in Hawaii and Chile. ‘Alopeke and Zorro are dual-channel imagers having both speckle (6.7″) and “wide-field” (∼1 arcminute) field-of-view options. They were built to primarily perform speckle interferometry providing diffraction-limited imagery at optical wavebands, yielding pixel scale uncertainties of ±0.21 mas, position angle uncertainties of ±0.7◦, and photometric uncertainties of Δm ± 0.02–0.04 magnitudes (for the blue and red channels, respectively) when run through the standard data reduction pipeline. One of their main scientific roles is the validation and characterization of exoplanets and their host stars as discovered by transit surveys such as the NASA Kepler, K2, and TESS missions. The limiting magnitude for speckle observations at Gemini can be quite faint (r ∼18 in good observing conditions) but typically the observed targets are brighter. The instruments can also function as conventional CCD imagers providing a 1 arc-minute field of view and allowing simultaneous two-color, high-speed time-series operation. These resident visitor instruments are remotely operable and are available for use by the community via the peer-reviewed proposal process.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2021.716560/fullastronomical instrumentationspeckle interfcromctrymultiple starsground-based astronomyoptical astronomy |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Nicholas J. Scott Steve B. Howell Crystal L. Gnilka Andrew W. Stephens Ricardo Salinas Rachel A. Matson Elise Furlan Elliott P. Horch Mark E. Everett David R. Ciardi Dave Mills Emmett A. Quigley |
spellingShingle |
Nicholas J. Scott Steve B. Howell Crystal L. Gnilka Andrew W. Stephens Ricardo Salinas Rachel A. Matson Elise Furlan Elliott P. Horch Mark E. Everett David R. Ciardi Dave Mills Emmett A. Quigley Twin High-Resolution, High-Speed Imagers for the Gemini Telescopes: Instrument Description and Science Verification Results Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences astronomical instrumentation speckle interfcromctry multiple stars ground-based astronomy optical astronomy |
author_facet |
Nicholas J. Scott Steve B. Howell Crystal L. Gnilka Andrew W. Stephens Ricardo Salinas Rachel A. Matson Elise Furlan Elliott P. Horch Mark E. Everett David R. Ciardi Dave Mills Emmett A. Quigley |
author_sort |
Nicholas J. Scott |
title |
Twin High-Resolution, High-Speed Imagers for the Gemini Telescopes: Instrument Description and Science Verification Results |
title_short |
Twin High-Resolution, High-Speed Imagers for the Gemini Telescopes: Instrument Description and Science Verification Results |
title_full |
Twin High-Resolution, High-Speed Imagers for the Gemini Telescopes: Instrument Description and Science Verification Results |
title_fullStr |
Twin High-Resolution, High-Speed Imagers for the Gemini Telescopes: Instrument Description and Science Verification Results |
title_full_unstemmed |
Twin High-Resolution, High-Speed Imagers for the Gemini Telescopes: Instrument Description and Science Verification Results |
title_sort |
twin high-resolution, high-speed imagers for the gemini telescopes: instrument description and science verification results |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences |
issn |
2296-987X |
publishDate |
2021-09-01 |
description |
Two new imaging instruments, ‘Alopeke and Zorro, were designed, built, and commissioned at the Gemini-North and Gemini-South telescopes in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Here we describe them and present the results from over a year of operation. The two identical instruments are based on the legacy of the DSSI (Differential Speckle Survey Instrument) instrument, successfully used for years at the WIYN and the Gemini telescopes in Hawaii and Chile. ‘Alopeke and Zorro are dual-channel imagers having both speckle (6.7″) and “wide-field” (∼1 arcminute) field-of-view options. They were built to primarily perform speckle interferometry providing diffraction-limited imagery at optical wavebands, yielding pixel scale uncertainties of ±0.21 mas, position angle uncertainties of ±0.7◦, and photometric uncertainties of Δm ± 0.02–0.04 magnitudes (for the blue and red channels, respectively) when run through the standard data reduction pipeline. One of their main scientific roles is the validation and characterization of exoplanets and their host stars as discovered by transit surveys such as the NASA Kepler, K2, and TESS missions. The limiting magnitude for speckle observations at Gemini can be quite faint (r ∼18 in good observing conditions) but typically the observed targets are brighter. The instruments can also function as conventional CCD imagers providing a 1 arc-minute field of view and allowing simultaneous two-color, high-speed time-series operation. These resident visitor instruments are remotely operable and are available for use by the community via the peer-reviewed proposal process. |
topic |
astronomical instrumentation speckle interfcromctry multiple stars ground-based astronomy optical astronomy |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2021.716560/full |
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