The HETDEX Instrumentation: Hobby-Eberly Telescope Wide-field Upgrade and VIRUS

Gary J. Hill; Hanshin Lee; Phillip J. Macqueen; Andreas Kelz; Niv Drory; Brian L. Vattiat; John M. Good; Jason Ramsey; Herman Kriel; Trent Peterson; D. L. Depoy; Karl Gebhardt; J. L. Marshall; Sarah E. Tuttle; Svend M. Bauer; Taylor S. Chonis; Maximilian H. Fabricius; Cynthia Froning; Marco H user; Briana L. Indahl; Thomas Jahn; Martin Landriau; Ron Leck; Francesco Montesano; Travis Prochaska; Jan M. Snigula; Greg Zeimann; Randy Bryant; George Damm; J. R. Fowler; Steven Janowiecki; Jerry Martin; Emily Mrozinski; Stephen Odewahn; Sergey Rostopchin; Matthew Shetrone; Renny Spencer; Erin Mentuch Cooper; Taft Armandroff; Ralf Bender; Gavin Dalton; Ulrich Hopp; Eiichiro Komatsu; Harald Nicklas; Lawrence W. Ramsey; Martin M. Roth; Donald P. Schneider; Chris Sneden; Matthias Steinmetz

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac2c02

The HETDEX Instrumentation: Hobby-Eberly Telescope Wide-field Upgrade and VIRUS

Gary J. Hill, Hanshin Lee, Phillip J. Macqueen, Andreas Kelz, Niv Drory, Brian L. Vattiat, John M. Good, Jason Ramsey, Herman Kriel, Trent Peterson, D. L. Depoy, Karl Gebhardt, J. L. Marshall, Sarah E. Tuttle, Svend M. Bauer, Taylor S. Chonis, Maximilian H. Fabricius, Cynthia Froning, Marco H user, Briana L. IndahlThomas Jahn, Martin Landriau, Ron Leck, Francesco Montesano, Travis Prochaska, Jan M. Snigula, Greg Zeimann, Randy Bryant, George Damm, J. R. Fowler, Steven Janowiecki, Jerry Martin, Emily Mrozinski, Stephen Odewahn, Sergey Rostopchin, Matthew Shetrone, Renny Spencer, Erin Mentuch Cooper, Taft Armandroff, Ralf Bender, Gavin Dalton, Ulrich Hopp, Eiichiro Komatsu, Harald Nicklas, Lawrence W. Ramsey, Martin M. Roth, Donald P. Schneider, Chris Sneden, Matthias Steinmetz

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

99 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is undertaking a blind wide-field low-resolution spectroscopic survey of 540 deg2 of sky to identify and derive redshifts for a million Lyα-emitting galaxies in the redshift range 1.9 < z < 3.5. The ultimate goal is to measure the expansion rate of the universe at this epoch, to sharply constrain cosmological parameters and thus the nature of dark energy. A major multiyear Wide-Field Upgrade (WFU) of the HET was completed in 2016 that substantially increased the field of view to 22′ diameter and the pupil to 10 m, by replacing the optical corrector, tracker, and Prime Focus Instrument Package and by developing a new telescope control system. The new, wide-field HET now feeds the Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS), a new low-resolution integral-field spectrograph (LRS2), and the Habitable Zone Planet Finder, a precision near-infrared radial velocity spectrograph. VIRUS consists of 156 identical spectrographs fed by almost 35,000 fibers in 78 integral-field units arrayed at the focus of the upgraded HET. VIRUS operates in a bandpass of 3500-5500 Å with resolving power R ≃ 800. VIRUS is the first example of large-scale replication applied to instrumentation in optical astronomy to achieve spectroscopic surveys of very large areas of sky. This paper presents technical details of the HET WFU and VIRUS, as flowed down from the HETDEX science requirements, along with experience from commissioning this major telescope upgrade and the innovative instrumentation suite for HETDEX.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	298
Journal	Astronomical Journal
Volume	162
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac2c02
State	Published - Dec 1 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

Access to Document

10.3847/1538-3881/ac2c02

Cite this

Hill, G. J., Lee, H., Macqueen, P. J., Kelz, A., Drory, N., Vattiat, B. L., Good, J. M., Ramsey, J., Kriel, H., Peterson, T., Depoy, D. L., Gebhardt, K., Marshall, J. L., Tuttle, S. E., Bauer, S. M., Chonis, T. S., Fabricius, M. H., Froning, C., H user, M., ... Steinmetz, M. (2021). The HETDEX Instrumentation: Hobby-Eberly Telescope Wide-field Upgrade and VIRUS. Astronomical Journal, 162(6), Article 298. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac2c02

@article{f220e116a4aa43529ab36ebdd6812db4,

title = "The HETDEX Instrumentation: Hobby-Eberly Telescope Wide-field Upgrade and VIRUS",

abstract = "The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is undertaking a blind wide-field low-resolution spectroscopic survey of 540 deg2 of sky to identify and derive redshifts for a million Lyα-emitting galaxies in the redshift range 1.9 < z < 3.5. The ultimate goal is to measure the expansion rate of the universe at this epoch, to sharply constrain cosmological parameters and thus the nature of dark energy. A major multiyear Wide-Field Upgrade (WFU) of the HET was completed in 2016 that substantially increased the field of view to 22′ diameter and the pupil to 10 m, by replacing the optical corrector, tracker, and Prime Focus Instrument Package and by developing a new telescope control system. The new, wide-field HET now feeds the Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS), a new low-resolution integral-field spectrograph (LRS2), and the Habitable Zone Planet Finder, a precision near-infrared radial velocity spectrograph. VIRUS consists of 156 identical spectrographs fed by almost 35,000 fibers in 78 integral-field units arrayed at the focus of the upgraded HET. VIRUS operates in a bandpass of 3500-5500 {\AA} with resolving power R ≃ 800. VIRUS is the first example of large-scale replication applied to instrumentation in optical astronomy to achieve spectroscopic surveys of very large areas of sky. This paper presents technical details of the HET WFU and VIRUS, as flowed down from the HETDEX science requirements, along with experience from commissioning this major telescope upgrade and the innovative instrumentation suite for HETDEX.",

author = "Hill, {Gary J.} and Hanshin Lee and Macqueen, {Phillip J.} and Andreas Kelz and Niv Drory and Vattiat, {Brian L.} and Good, {John M.} and Jason Ramsey and Herman Kriel and Trent Peterson and Depoy, {D. L.} and Karl Gebhardt and Marshall, {J. L.} and Tuttle, {Sarah E.} and Bauer, {Svend M.} and Chonis, {Taylor S.} and Fabricius, {Maximilian H.} and Cynthia Froning and {H user}, Marco and Indahl, {Briana L.} and Thomas Jahn and Martin Landriau and Ron Leck and Francesco Montesano and Travis Prochaska and Snigula, {Jan M.} and Greg Zeimann and Randy Bryant and George Damm and Fowler, {J. R.} and Steven Janowiecki and Jerry Martin and Emily Mrozinski and Stephen Odewahn and Sergey Rostopchin and Matthew Shetrone and Renny Spencer and {Mentuch Cooper}, Erin and Taft Armandroff and Ralf Bender and Gavin Dalton and Ulrich Hopp and Eiichiro Komatsu and Harald Nicklas and Ramsey, {Lawrence W.} and Roth, {Martin M.} and Schneider, {Donald P.} and Chris Sneden and Matthias Steinmetz",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society..",

year = "2021",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/1538-3881/ac2c02",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "162",

journal = "Astronomical Journal",

issn = "0004-6256",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "6",

}

Hill, GJ, Lee, H, Macqueen, PJ, Kelz, A, Drory, N, Vattiat, BL, Good, JM, Ramsey, J, Kriel, H, Peterson, T, Depoy, DL, Gebhardt, K, Marshall, JL, Tuttle, SE, Bauer, SM, Chonis, TS, Fabricius, MH, Froning, C, H user, M, Indahl, BL, Jahn, T, Landriau, M, Leck, R, Montesano, F, Prochaska, T, Snigula, JM, Zeimann, G, Bryant, R, Damm, G, Fowler, JR, Janowiecki, S, Martin, J, Mrozinski, E, Odewahn, S, Rostopchin, S, Shetrone, M, Spencer, R, Mentuch Cooper, E, Armandroff, T, Bender, R, Dalton, G, Hopp, U, Komatsu, E, Nicklas, H, Ramsey, LW, Roth, MM, Schneider, DP, Sneden, C & Steinmetz, M 2021, 'The HETDEX Instrumentation: Hobby-Eberly Telescope Wide-field Upgrade and VIRUS', Astronomical Journal, vol. 162, no. 6, 298. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac2c02

TY - JOUR

T1 - The HETDEX Instrumentation

T2 - Hobby-Eberly Telescope Wide-field Upgrade and VIRUS

AU - Hill, Gary J.

AU - Lee, Hanshin

AU - Macqueen, Phillip J.

AU - Kelz, Andreas

AU - Drory, Niv

AU - Vattiat, Brian L.

AU - Good, John M.

AU - Ramsey, Jason

AU - Kriel, Herman

AU - Peterson, Trent

AU - Depoy, D. L.

AU - Gebhardt, Karl

AU - Marshall, J. L.

AU - Tuttle, Sarah E.

AU - Bauer, Svend M.

AU - Chonis, Taylor S.

AU - Fabricius, Maximilian H.

AU - Froning, Cynthia

AU - H user, Marco

AU - Indahl, Briana L.

AU - Jahn, Thomas

AU - Landriau, Martin

AU - Leck, Ron

AU - Montesano, Francesco

AU - Prochaska, Travis

AU - Snigula, Jan M.

AU - Zeimann, Greg

AU - Bryant, Randy

AU - Damm, George

AU - Fowler, J. R.

AU - Janowiecki, Steven

AU - Martin, Jerry

AU - Mrozinski, Emily

AU - Odewahn, Stephen

AU - Rostopchin, Sergey

AU - Shetrone, Matthew

AU - Spencer, Renny

AU - Mentuch Cooper, Erin

AU - Armandroff, Taft

AU - Bender, Ralf

AU - Dalton, Gavin

AU - Hopp, Ulrich

AU - Komatsu, Eiichiro

AU - Nicklas, Harald

AU - Ramsey, Lawrence W.

AU - Roth, Martin M.

AU - Schneider, Donald P.

AU - Sneden, Chris

AU - Steinmetz, Matthias

PY - 2021/12/1

Y1 - 2021/12/1

N2 - The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is undertaking a blind wide-field low-resolution spectroscopic survey of 540 deg2 of sky to identify and derive redshifts for a million Lyα-emitting galaxies in the redshift range 1.9 < z < 3.5. The ultimate goal is to measure the expansion rate of the universe at this epoch, to sharply constrain cosmological parameters and thus the nature of dark energy. A major multiyear Wide-Field Upgrade (WFU) of the HET was completed in 2016 that substantially increased the field of view to 22′ diameter and the pupil to 10 m, by replacing the optical corrector, tracker, and Prime Focus Instrument Package and by developing a new telescope control system. The new, wide-field HET now feeds the Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS), a new low-resolution integral-field spectrograph (LRS2), and the Habitable Zone Planet Finder, a precision near-infrared radial velocity spectrograph. VIRUS consists of 156 identical spectrographs fed by almost 35,000 fibers in 78 integral-field units arrayed at the focus of the upgraded HET. VIRUS operates in a bandpass of 3500-5500 Å with resolving power R ≃ 800. VIRUS is the first example of large-scale replication applied to instrumentation in optical astronomy to achieve spectroscopic surveys of very large areas of sky. This paper presents technical details of the HET WFU and VIRUS, as flowed down from the HETDEX science requirements, along with experience from commissioning this major telescope upgrade and the innovative instrumentation suite for HETDEX.

AB - The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is undertaking a blind wide-field low-resolution spectroscopic survey of 540 deg2 of sky to identify and derive redshifts for a million Lyα-emitting galaxies in the redshift range 1.9 < z < 3.5. The ultimate goal is to measure the expansion rate of the universe at this epoch, to sharply constrain cosmological parameters and thus the nature of dark energy. A major multiyear Wide-Field Upgrade (WFU) of the HET was completed in 2016 that substantially increased the field of view to 22′ diameter and the pupil to 10 m, by replacing the optical corrector, tracker, and Prime Focus Instrument Package and by developing a new telescope control system. The new, wide-field HET now feeds the Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS), a new low-resolution integral-field spectrograph (LRS2), and the Habitable Zone Planet Finder, a precision near-infrared radial velocity spectrograph. VIRUS consists of 156 identical spectrographs fed by almost 35,000 fibers in 78 integral-field units arrayed at the focus of the upgraded HET. VIRUS operates in a bandpass of 3500-5500 Å with resolving power R ≃ 800. VIRUS is the first example of large-scale replication applied to instrumentation in optical astronomy to achieve spectroscopic surveys of very large areas of sky. This paper presents technical details of the HET WFU and VIRUS, as flowed down from the HETDEX science requirements, along with experience from commissioning this major telescope upgrade and the innovative instrumentation suite for HETDEX.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122587411&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85122587411&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3847/1538-3881/ac2c02

DO - 10.3847/1538-3881/ac2c02

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85122587411

SN - 0004-6256

VL - 162

JO - Astronomical Journal

JF - Astronomical Journal

IS - 6

M1 - 298

ER -

The HETDEX Instrumentation: Hobby-Eberly Telescope Wide-field Upgrade and VIRUS

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this