MRI: Development of VIRUS2 - A Scalable Integral Field Spectrograph for McDonald Observatory

该奖项资助西德克萨斯州麦克唐纳天文台开发一种新的天文仪器。VIRUS2光谱仪的设计将很好地适应未来在下一代超大型望远镜上的应用，并提供了一种经济有效的方法来测量此类望远镜。该课程将为学生提供参与仪器设计、组装和调试的机会。VIRUS2是一个可扩展的积分场光谱仪麦克唐纳天文台2.7米望远镜。它将基于同样位于麦当劳的霍比埃伯利望远镜（HET）上的原始病毒仪器开发的技术。病毒光谱仪适用于各种光谱分辨率和波长。VIRUS2将利用三个复制单元覆盖370-915 nm波长，分辨率为2300。大量的投资已经在病毒使这个后续项目的成本低于从零开始，应该允许一个快速的进度和低风险。由此产生的仪器将通过扩展对星系外围的观测，对正在进行的附近星系（MaNGA， SAMI， CALIFA， VENGA）的结构调查进行补充研究。

This award funds the development of a new astronomical instrument at the McDonald Observatory in West Texas. The VIRUS2 spectrograph design will be well-adapted to future applications on the next generation of extremely large telescopes, and offers a cost-effective way to instrument such telescopes. This program will provide the opportunity for students to be involved in the design, assembly, and commissioning of the instrument. VIRUS2 is a scalable Integral Field Spectrograph for the McDonald Observatory 2.7-m telescope. It will be based on technology developed for the original VIRUS instrument on the Hobby Eberly Telescope (HET), also at McDonald. The VIRUS spectrograph is adaptable to a range of spectral resolutions and wavelengths. VIRUS2 will utilize three replicated units to cover wavelengths 370-915 nm at resolution ~2300. The large investment already made in VIRUS makes this follow-on project lower in cost than starting from scratch and should allow for a rapid schedule and low risk. The resulting instrument will enable studies complementary to ongoing structure surveys of nearby galaxies (MaNGA, SAMI, CALIFA, VENGA) by extending observations to the outskirts of galaxies.