MRI: Development of Cryogenic Infrared Spectrograph for the 1.6 Meter Solar Telescope in Big Bear

MRI：大熊座1.6米太阳望远镜低温红外光谱仪的研制

• 批准号: 0923199
• 负责人: Philip Goode
• 金额: $ 131.43万
• 依托单位: New Jersey Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2013-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0923199&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Development; Cryogenic; Infrared; Spectrograph

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The Principal Investigator (PI)'s team will collaborate with personnel at the National Solar Observatory (NSO) and the University of Colorado to develop the Cryogenic InfraRed Spectrograph (CIRS) for Big Bear Solar Observatory's New Solar Telescope (NST), located on Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino mountains of southern California. The CIRS system will be a substantial improvement over the two current solar infrared spectrographs in the US (on the NSO's McMath-Pierce telescope in Arizona and at University of Hawaii's Mees Solar Observatory on Maui). CIRS will permit high spatial resolution, high cadence observations of the Sun with high Zeeman sensitivity of solar magnetic fields. The PI will use CIRS to study the Sun's atmosphere from the photosphere through the chromosphere, as well as to make observations of dimmer and more difficult targets, such as sunspot umbrae and off-limb features. Spectral observations of the Sun's photosphere and chromosphere utilizing the largely unexplored near-infrared (NIR) region of the spectrum will help solve many long-standing problems in solar astronomy, such as the disparity among magnetic field measurements in visible and infrared spectral regions and the origin of the solar chromosphere. The infrared spectrum beyond 1 mm is extremely useful for photospheric magnetic diagnostics, and also allows a unique window into the chromosphere lying atop the solar photosphere. Since high spatial resolution polarimetry at NIR wavelengths requires large aperture telescopes, this effort emphasizes the benefits of developing CIRS specifically for the 1.6 meter aperture NST at Big Bear. Among its broader impacts, CIRS will be a significant test bed for more complicated IR spectrographs being planned for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST), which is currently under development. Even after the ATST becomes operational, the NST will remain essential for community-directed campaign-style observations using CIRS. The development of the CIRS system will also allow the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Big Bear Solar Observatory to continue training the next generation of solar physicists and instrument builders. The data obtained by CIRS and the NST will certainly be used in many PhD theses, and will be openly accessible to the scientific community. A substantial portion of observing time on the NST will also be made available to the solar physics community.

该奖项由2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公共法律第111-5条)资助。首席研究员S团队将与国家太阳天文台和科罗拉多大学的人员合作，为大熊太阳天文台的新太阳望远镜开发低温红外光谱仪，该望远镜位于南加州圣贝纳迪诺山脉的大熊湖上。与美国目前的两台太阳红外光谱仪(位于亚利桑那州的NSO的麦克马思-皮尔斯望远镜和位于毛伊岛的夏威夷大学的Mees太阳天文台)相比，CIRS系统将是一个实质性的改进。CIRS将允许利用太阳磁场的高塞曼敏感度进行高空间分辨率、高节奏的太阳观测。PI将使用CIRS来研究从光球层到色球的太阳大气，以及对较暗和更困难的目标的观测，例如太阳黑子本影和临边特征。对太阳光球和色球的光谱观测将有助于解决太阳天文学中的许多长期存在的问题，例如可见光和红外光谱区的磁场测量之间的差异以及太阳色球的起源。超过1毫米的红外光谱对于光球层的磁学诊断是非常有用的，还允许一个独特的窗口来观察位于太阳光球层顶部的色球。由于近红外波段的高空间分辨率偏振测量需要大口径望远镜，这项工作强调了专门为大熊1.6米口径NST开发CIRS的好处。在其更广泛的影响中，CIRS将成为计划用于目前正在开发的先进技术太阳望远镜(ATST)的更复杂红外光谱仪的重要试验台。即使在ATST投入使用后，NST仍将是使用CIRS进行社区指导的运动式观测的关键。CIRS系统的开发还将使新泽西理工学院和大熊太阳天文台继续培训下一代太阳物理学家和仪器建造者。CIRS和NST获得的数据肯定会被用于许多博士论文，并将向科学界开放访问。在NST上观测的大部分时间也将提供给太阳物理界。