As of early April 2014, all the primary GRACES
components have successfully passed acceptance tests in the NRC Herzberg labs and will
be shipped to Hawai’i for installation later in
April. Most significant, the two 280-meterlong fibers each have a higher transmission
than expected. Moreover, each fiber introduces a focal ratio degradation (FRD) of order 10 percent, amazingly below the requirement of 20 percent.
The project is still in its initial phase, which
was envisioned simply as a proof of concept:
is it possible to transmit light from one telescope to a spectrograph at another, 280m
away? If the integrated and tested GRACES
works as well as acceptance tests indicate it
will, we will then work with the Gemini and
CFHT communities to find ways of entering
the next phase: to make this instrument a fully functioning capability at Gemini in the near
future. With GRACES high-resolution optical
spectroscopy at Gemini North, research into
the study of stellar populations, metal-poor
stars, binaries, asteroseismology, and more
are potentially on the horizon for its users.
Back on the Sky — With GPI!
At the January 2014 American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Washington,
D.C., we released several breathtaking firstlight images from the Gemini Planet Imager
(GPI). While the world marveled at the images, a team of dedicated GPI scientists and
engineers (led by Leslie Saddlemyer from
Canada’s National Research Council; NRC),
kept very busy making improvements to the
instrument. They meticulously executed a
carefully devised remediation plan to resolve
some known problems identified prior to delivery. They also strived to improve the baseline performance of the instrument. With the
successful completion of this work, on-sky
verification and commissioning has recommenced, and the GPI team now anticipates
April 2014
an early science run in April with GPI offered
for general community use in 2014B.
Following last November’s first-light and December’s first verification and commissioning
runs, Gemini staff removed GPI from the Instrument Support Structure and transported
it to the Gemini South instrumentation lab.
There it received several upgrades to address
remediation needs such as malfunctioning
mechanisms. To facilitate this work (and lead
other post-delivery activities), Saddlemyer
relocated to Gemini South for a 6-month period, starting in October 2013.
The major opto-mechanical work packages
involved in this most recent work included
the instrument’s Integral Field Spectrograph
(IFS). Specifically, the IFS work led by James
Larkin (University California Los Angeles), included the following: 1) fixing both the IFS
pupil and prism slide mechanisms, to ensure
robust performance; 2) installing a baffle, to
eliminate a ghost image seen while calibrating the IFS; 3) installing a synchronized controller to the dual Closed Cycle Refrigerators
(CCR), to reduce the vibration transmitted to
the IFS; and 4) modifying the controller software, to reduce the IFS frame readout time
from 7 to 3 seconds.
Other work packages included: 1) an upgrade to the control hardware for the microelectro-mechanical deformable mirror (to
improve its protection); 2) a replacement to
the internal communications network (to improve robustness); and 3) a number of software improvements to several subsystems,
including changes to improve adaptive optics performance.
On the lab’s telescope flexure rig, in late
February, we tested how GPI’s performance
changes under various gravitational vectors,
prior to mounting the instrument back on
the telescope’s upward looking port. One
significant measured change was the reduc-
GeminiFocus
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