We have a huge, exciting news. Finally, all 12 Spectrograph cameras are integrated at Subaru Telescope now!
PFS Spectrograph was developed by Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM, France), Johns Hopkins University (JHU, USA), Brazilian Consortium, Kavli iPMU (Japan) in collaboration with Bertin Winlight. Utilizing 4 identical modules, we observe approximately 2400 spectra in a single shot. Each module has three cameras (blue, red and near-infrared), with which we can obtain spectra of wide waveband-range (i.e., 380nm-1260nm). The module was installed in a dedicated clean room, where air temperature is controlled at 4 degC.
JHU is in charge of near-infrared cameras. Recently, we found a problem with efficiency of the detectors, and returned one camera to JHU which had been already integrated and used at Subaru. After refurbishing the detector, the camera was reassembled and confirmed for its performance at JHU, and shipped to Subaru telescope in July 2024.
The shipping took much longer than expected — it was a one-month journey from the east coast in the US mainland to Hawaii island. But on 12 August 2024, the camera was finally delivered to Subaru Telescope at the summit of Maunakea, and was integrated back to the spectrograph module on the same day, thanks to great supports by Subaru staffs. At last, all the 12 cameras have been integrated! It’s been 7 years since the dedicated clean room was built, and its’s been 5 years since the first module was integrated there. Now, the PFS instruments are fully installed to Subaru!
We completed pumping down and cooling down the camera and are testing its alignment. We are planning to have an engineering observation in the end of August, where we’ll observe sky with the full system. We are looking forward to getting the full spectra from sky.
