CIRCE: The Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment for the Gran Telescopio Canarias
/ Authors
S. Eikenberry, M. Charcos, M. Edwards, A. Garner, N. Lasso-Cabrera, R. Stelter, A. Marín-Franch, S. N. Raines, K. Ackley, J. G. Bennett
and 44 more authors
J. Cenarro, B. Chinn, H. V. Donoso, Raymond Frommeyer, K. Hanna, M. Herlevich, J. Julian, P. Miller, S. Mullin, C. Murphey, C. Packham, F. Városi, C. Vega, C. Warner, A. Ramaprakash, M. Burse, Sunjit Punnadi, Pravin A. Chordia, A. Gerarts, H'ector de Paz Mart'in, M. Calero, R. Scarpa, S. Acosta, William Miguel Hern'andez S'anchez, B. Siegel, F. P'erez, Himar D. Viera Mart'in, J. Losada, A. Nuñez, 'Alvaro Tejero, Carlos Gonz'alez, C. Rodr'iguez, J. Sendra, J. Rodriguez, J. C'aceres, L. Garc'ia, M. Lopez, R. Dominguez, T. Gaggstatter, A. C. Lavers, S. Geier, P. Pessev, A. Sarajedini, A. Castro-Tirado
/ Abstract
The Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE) is a near-infrared (1-2.5 micron) imager, polarimeter and low-resolution spectrograph operating as a visitor instrument for the Gran Telescopio Canarias 10.4-meter telescope. It was designed and built largely by graduate students and postdocs, with help from the UF astronomy engineering group, and is funded by the University of Florida and the U.S. National Science Foundation. CIRCE is intended to help fill the gap in near-infrared capabilities prior to the arrival of EMIR to the GTC, and will also provide the following scientific capabilities to compliment EMIR after its arrival: high-resolution imaging, narrowband imaging, high-time-resolution photometry, imaging polarimetry, low resolution spectroscopy. In this paper, we review the design, fabrication, integration, lab testing, and on-sky performance results for CIRCE. These include a novel approach to the opto-mechanical design, fabrication, and alignment.
Journal: arXiv: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics