166
‘charge shuffling’ facility and tunable filters. For multi-object spectroscopy
there is a focal-plane mask designer. OSIRIS entered into service in 2009 and
has since then performed excellent observations, giving rise to noteworthy
scientific results that have been published in major astrophysical journals. The
Principal Investigator of OSIRIS is Jordi Cepa.
Rather than weary the reader further with a detailed list of IAC-made
instruments, which those interested may find full descriptions of in the IAC’s
annual Memoria, with OSIRIS I end this description of instrumentation for
the visible wavelength range and continue with a brief summary of work done
on infrared and radio instruments. I shall then go on to look at the most
important aspects of our ceaseless efforts to transfer developed technology to
industry.
In 1972 we persuaded Imperial College of Science and Technology, London
to set up their 60-inch (1.52-cm) infrared Flux Collector at Teide Observatory.
This was an important development for infrared astronomy in our country.
The flux collector was later renamed Telescopio Carlos Sánchez in commemoration of our late colleague. With Professor James Ring’s innovative design, it
was at the time the largest infrared telescope in the world. It had a DallKirkham optical arrangement (ellipsoidal primary and spheroidal secondary)
and, far from being a mere ‘flux bucket’, its optics turned out to be surprisingly good.
As soon as the telescope arrived, we got our people involved in its maintenance and operation to learn these new techniques—a strategy that we always
adopted whenever advanced instrumentation arrived at the Observatories (see
the next chapter). By the following decade the IAC was able to construct an
infrared instrument for the telescope with a linear 32-element infrared detector. Later came a two-dimensional array infrared camera (CAIN) and an
infrared photometer (FIN).
The IAC’s most significant advance in this wavelength range was the design
and construction of a double infrared spectrometer with cryogenically cooled
diffraction gratings operating in the wavelength range 2.5–12 μm for ESA’s
Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The instrument was called ISOPHOT-S and
will be described in the next chapter.
The most complex and versatile infrared instrument yet built by the IAC is
undoubtedly the Multi-object Infrared Spectrograph (EMIR, after its Spanish
initials) for the GTC, where it is now in operation. It was designed, fabricated, assembled, and verified in its entirety at the IAC. Its Principal
Investigator is Francisco Garzón. The instrument produces wide-field images
in the 0.9–2.5-μm wavelength range and also serves as an intermediate resolution multi-object spectrograph. The central feature of the instrument is its
F. Sánchez
‘charge shuffling’ facility and tunable filters. For multi-object spectroscopy
there is a focal-plane mask designer. OSIRIS entered into service in 2009 and
has since then performed excellent observations, giving rise to noteworthy
scientific results that have been published in major astrophysical journals. The
Principal Investigator of OSIRIS is Jordi Cepa.
Rather than weary the reader further with a detailed list of IAC-made
instruments, which those interested may find full descriptions of in the IAC’s
annual Memoria, with OSIRIS I end this description of instrumentation for
the visible wavelength range and continue with a brief summary of work done
on infrared and radio instruments. I shall then go on to look at the most
important aspects of our ceaseless efforts to transfer developed technology to
industry.
In 1972 we persuaded Imperial College of Science and Technology, London
to set up their 60-inch (1.52-cm) infrared Flux Collector at Teide Observatory.
This was an important development for infrared astronomy in our country.
The flux collector was later renamed Telescopio Carlos Sánchez in commemoration of our late colleague. With Professor James Ring’s innovative design, it
was at the time the largest infrared telescope in the world. It had a DallKirkham optical arrangement (ellipsoidal primary and spheroidal secondary)
and, far from being a mere ‘flux bucket’, its optics turned out to be surprisingly good.
As soon as the telescope arrived, we got our people involved in its maintenance and operation to learn these new techniques—a strategy that we always
adopted whenever advanced instrumentation arrived at the Observatories (see
the next chapter). By the following decade the IAC was able to construct an
infrared instrument for the telescope with a linear 32-element infrared detector. Later came a two-dimensional array infrared camera (CAIN) and an
infrared photometer (FIN).
The IAC’s most significant advance in this wavelength range was the design
and construction of a double infrared spectrometer with cryogenically cooled
diffraction gratings operating in the wavelength range 2.5–12 μm for ESA’s
Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The instrument was called ISOPHOT-S and
will be described in the next chapter.
The most complex and versatile infrared instrument yet built by the IAC is
undoubtedly the Multi-object Infrared Spectrograph (EMIR, after its Spanish
initials) for the GTC, where it is now in operation. It was designed, fabricated, assembled, and verified in its entirety at the IAC. Its Principal
Investigator is Francisco Garzón. The instrument produces wide-field images
in the 0.9–2.5-μm wavelength range and also serves as an intermediate resolution multi-object spectrograph. The central feature of the instrument is its
F. Sánchez