VIRUS: the instrument infrastructure to support the deployment and upkeep of 156 spectrographs at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope

R. Spencer; E. Balderrama; G. Damm; J. Fowler; J. Good; G. J. Hill; H. Kriel; P. MacQueen; E. Mrozinski; D. Perry; T. Peterson; M. Shetrone; R. Savage; G. Smith; E. Cook; D. DePoy; J. Marshall; T. Prochaska; M. Sauseda

doi:10.1117/12.2314174

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10 July 2018 VIRUS: the instrument infrastructure to support the deployment and upkeep of 156 spectrographs at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope

R. Spencer, E. Balderrama, G. Damm, J. Fowler, J. Good, G. J. Hill, H. Kriel, P. MacQueen, E. Mrozinski, D. Perry, T. Peterson, M. Shetrone, R. Savage, G. Smith, E. Cook, D. DePoy, J. Marshall, T. Prochaska, M. Sauseda

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Proceedings Volume 10706, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation III; 107066R (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2314174
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

The Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS) consists of 156 identical spectrographs fed by 35,000 fibers from the upgraded 10-meter Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). VIRUS is in a phased deployment. At the submission of this paper, over half of the units are installed and the full support infrastructure is operational. This paper will describe the VIRUS infrastructure which includes the physical support system, the air cooling, the cryogenic cooling, and the temperature control of VIRUS. The paper will also discuss the various installation, maintenance, and operational procedures based on growing experience with the VIRUS array.

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R. Spencer, E. Balderrama, G. Damm, J. Fowler, J. Good, G. J. Hill, H. Kriel, P. MacQueen, E. Mrozinski, D. Perry, T. Peterson, M. Shetrone, R. Savage, G. Smith, E. Cook, D. DePoy, J. Marshall, T. Prochaska, and M. Sauseda "VIRUS: the instrument infrastructure to support the deployment and upkeep of 156 spectrographs at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope", Proc. SPIE 10706, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation III, 107066R (10 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2314174

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