SOFIA - HIRMES: Looking forward to the HIgh-Resolution Mid-infrarEd Spectrometer
astro-ph.IM
/ Authors
Samuel N. Richards, Samuel H. Moseley, Gordon Stacey, Matthew Greenhouse, Alexander Kutyrev, Richard Arendt, Hristo Atanasoff, Stuart Banks, Regis P. Brekosky, Ari-David Brown
and 41 more authors
Berhanu Bulcha, Tony Cazeau, Michael Choi, Felipe Colazo, Chuck Engler, Theodore Hadjimichael, James Hays-Wehle, Chuck Henderson, Wen-Ting Hsieh, Jeffrey Huang, Iver Jenstrom, Jim Kellogg, Mark Kimball, Attila Kovacs, Steve Leiter, Steve Maher, Robert McMurray, Gary J. Melnick, Eric Mentzell, Vilem Mikula, Timothy M. Miller, Peter Nagler, Thomas Nikola
/ Abstract
The HIgh-Resolution Mid-infrarEd Spectrometer (HIRMES) is the 3rd Generation Instrument for the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), currently in development at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), and due for commissioning in 2019. By combining direct-detection Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometer arrays, grating-dispersive spectroscopy, and a host of Fabry-Perot tunable filters, HIRMES will provide the ability for High Resolution (R~100,000), Mid-Resolution (R~10,000), and Low-Resolution (R~600) slit-spectroscopy, and 2D Spectral Imaging (R~2000 at selected wavelengths) over the 25 - 122 μm mid-far infrared waveband. The driving science application is the evolution of proto-planetary systems via measurements of water-vapor, water-ice, deuterated hydrogen (HD), and neutral oxygen lines. However, HIRMES has been designed to be as flexible as possible to cover a wide range of science cases that fall within its phase-space, all whilst reaching sensitivities and observing powers not yet seen thus far on SOFIA, providing unique observing capabilities which will remain unmatched for decades.