SPIP is a new-generation near-infrared spectropolarimeter / high-precision velocimeter to be mounted at the 2m Telescope Bernard Lyot (TBL) at Pic du Midi de Bigorre, the French Pyrénées astronomical observatory (alt. 2877 m), by end-2024, and mostly copied from SPIRou in operation at the 3.6 Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (MaunaKea, Hawaii, alt. 4200 m) since 2018. Observing in the 0.95-2.5 μm range (YJHK bands), SPIP, like SPIRou, will be dedicated to the detection and characterization of planetary worlds around nearby red dwarfs and to the study of how stellar magnetic fields impact star / planet formation. This paper presents the work performed on integrating and testing the cryogenic spectrograph unit (cooled down at 70K and thermally stabilized at 1mK), benefiting from both the robustness of SPIRou and the design improvements implemented for SPIP.
SPIP is a new instrument for the 2m Télescope Bernard Lyot (TBL) at Pic du Midi, located in the French Pyrénées. Observing in the 0.95-2.5 μm range (YJHK bands), SPIP at TBL will team with SPIRou at the 3.6m CFHT (Maunakea, Hawaii), aiming together at detecting and characterizing planetary worlds around nearby red dwarfs, and at documenting magnetized star / planet formation. This paper describes the instrument sub-systems integration and validation tests performed in Toulouse (France) with a particular focus on the H4RG detector, failure analysis and mitigation.
SPIP is a near infrared (nIR) echelle spectropolarimeter and a high-precision velocimeter for the 2-m Telescope Bernard Lyot (TBL – Pic du Midi, France), a twin version of SPIRou, mounted at the 3.6-m Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT - Maunakea, Hawaii). This new generation instrument aims at detecting planetary worlds and Earth-like planets orbiting nearby red dwarfs, and at studying the impact of stellar magnetic fields on the formation of low-mass stars and their planets. The cryogenic spectrograph, cooled down at 70 K, is a fiber-fed double-pass cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph, covering the YJHK spectral bands (0.95-2.5 µm) in a single exposure. Among the key instrument parameters, high resolving power (of 70k) and long-term thermal stability (at a level better than 1 mK) are mandatory to achieve a relative radial velocity precision of 1-2 m/s. The engineering team at OMP / IRAP in Toulouse (France) took up the challenge of adapting and improving the SPIRou concept for SPIP to become the logical complement of SPIRou, to be used on the largest telescope in France for most of the available observing time. In this paper, we describe the work performed on the design, integration and in-lab tests on the assembled instrument in Toulouse. An evolved design on the Cassegrain unit, a completely new version of the spectrograph thermal insulation, as well as a number of minor upgrades with respect to SPIRou, should allow SPIP to be even more precise, stable and efficient than SPIRou
SPIRou is an innovative near infra-red echelle spectropolarimeter and a high-precision velocimeter for the 3.6 m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT – Mauna Kea, Hawaii). This new generation instrument aims at detecting planetary worlds and Earth-like planets of nearby red dwarfs, in habitable zone, and studying the role of the stellar magnetic field during the process of low-mass stars / planets formation. The cryogenic spectrograph unit, cooled down at 80 K, is a fiber fed double-pass cross dispersed echelle spectrograph which works in the 0.98-2.40 μm wavelength range, allowing the coverage of the YJHK bands in a single exposure. Among the key parameters, a long-term thermal stability better than 2 mK, a relative radial velocity better than 1 m.s -1 and a spectral resolution of 70K are required. After ~ 1 year of assembly, integration and tests at IRAP/OMP (Toulouse, France) during 2016/2017, SPIRou was then shipped to Hawaii and completely re-integrated at CFHT during February 2018. A full instrument first light was performed on 24th of April 2018. The technical commissioning / science validation phase is in progress until June 2018, before opening to the science community. In this paper, we describe the work performed on integration and test of the opto-mechanical assemblies composing the spectrograph unit, firstly in-lab, in Toulouse and then on site, at CFHT. A review of the performances obtained in-lab (in 2017) and during the first on-sky results (in 2018) is also presented.
SPIRou is a near-IR (0.98-2.35μm) echelle spectropolarimeter / high precision velocimeter installed at the beginning of the year 2018 on the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, with the main goal of detecting Earth-like planets around low mass stars and magnetic fields of forming stars. In this paper, the fiber links which connects the polarimeter unit to the cryogenic spectrograph unit (35 meter apart) are described. The pupil slicer which forms a slit compatible with the spectrograph entrance specifications is also discussed in this paper. Some challenging aspects are presented. In particular this paper will focus on the manufacturing of 35 meter fibers with a very low loss attenuation (< 13dB/km) in the non-usual fiber spectral domain from 0.98 μm to 2.35 μm. Other aspects as the scrambling performance of the fiber links to reach high accuracy radial velocity measurements (<1m/s) and the performances of the pupil slicer exposed at a cryogenic and vacuum environment will be discussed.
SPIRou is a near-IR (0.98-2.35μm), echelle spectropolarimeter / high precision velocimeter being designed as a nextgeneration instrument for the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, with the main goal of detecting Earth-like planets around low mass stars and magnetic fields of forming stars. The SPIRou science fibers, which connect the polarimeter unit to the cryogenic spectrograph unit (35 meter apart), emit an undesirable thermal flux into the spectrograph, due to their intrinsic absorption. This may degrade the signal to noise ratio and then the sensitivity of the instrument for the reddest wavelengths. For verifying the calculation model used to predict the thermal emission from the SPIRou science fibers, a test bench is set-up at LESIA (Observatory of Paris). In this paper, the experimental approach to measure the thermal emission from a 30 meter long fluoride fiber @3μm is described. Experimental results are then compared to those predicted by the theoretical model.
SPIRou is a near-IR echelle spectropolarimeter and high-precision velocimeter under construction as a next-
generation instrument for the Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope. It is designed to cover a very wide simultaneous
near-IR spectral range (0.98-2.35 μm) at a resolving power of 73.5K, providing unpolarized and polarized
spectra of low-mass stars at a radial velocity (RV) precision of 1m/s. The main science goals of SPIRou are
the detection of habitable super-Earths around low-mass stars and the study of stellar magnetism of star at
the early stages of their formation. Following a successful final design review in Spring 2014, SPIRou is now
under construction and is scheduled to see first light in late 2017. We present an overview of key aspects of
SPIRou’s optical and mechanical design.
SPIRou is a near-IR (0.98-2.35μm), echelle spectropolarimeter / high precision velocimeter being designed as a nextgeneration
instrument for the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, with the main goal of
detecting Earth-like planets around low-mass stars and magnetic fields of forming stars. The unique scientific and
technical capabilities of SPIRou are described in a series of seven companion papers. In this paper, the Front End of the
instrument is presented. Positioned at the Cassegrain Focal plane of the telescope, the front end is constituted of an
atmospheric dispersion corrector, a field viewer with an image stabilization unit (0.03 arc seconds RMS stabilization
goal), a calibration wheel and an achromatic polarimeter unit based on Fresnel Rhombs. The polarimeter permits the
circular and linear polarization analysis. The retardance of the Fresnel rhombs is nominal to better than 0.5% in the
whole spectral domain. The evaluation and the reduction of the thermal background of the Front end is a challenging part
of the instrument.
SPIRou is a near-IR (0.98-2.35μm), echelle spectropolarimeter / high precision velocimeter being designed as a next-generation instrument for the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, with the main goal of
detecting Earth-like planets around low mass stars and magnetic fields of forming stars. The unique scientific and
technical capabilities of SPIRou are described in a series of seven companion papers. In this paper, the fiber links which
connects the polarimeter unit to the cryogenic spectrograph unit (35 meter apart) are described. The pupil slicer which
forms a slit compatible with the spectrograph entrance specifications is also discussed in this paper.
Some challenging aspects are presented. In particular this paper will focus on the manufacturing of 35 meter fibers with a
very low loss attenuation (< 13dB/km) in the non-usual fiber spectral domain from 0.98 μm to 2.35 μm. Other aspects as
the scrambling performance of the fiber links to reach high accuracy radial velocity measurements (1m/s) and the design
of the pupil slicer exposed at a cryogenic and vacuum environment will be discussed.
SPIRou is a near-infrared, echelle spectropolarimeter/velocimeter under design for the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope (CFHT) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The unique scientific capabilities and technical design features are described
in the accompanying (eight) papers at this conference. In this paper we focus on the lens design of the optical
spectrograph. The SPIROU spectrograph is a near infrared fiber fed double pass cross dispersed spectrograph. The
cryogenic spectrograph is connected with the Cassegrain unit by the two science fibers. It is also fed by the fiber coming
from the calibration box and RV reference module of the instrument. It includes 2 off-axis parabolas (1 in double pass),
an echelle grating, a train of cross disperser prisms (in double pass), a flat folding mirror, a refractive camera and a
detector. This paper describes the optical design of the spectrograph unit and estimates the performances. In particular,
the echelle grating options are discussed as the goal grating is not available from the market.
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