The W.M. Keck Observatory is now in its 12th year of science operations, and the development of new instruments, and upgrades to existing ones, continues to be an important part of our science driven strategic plan, which emphasizes state of the art instrumentation, continued advances in high angular resolution astronomy and faint-object spectroscopy. Our program is starting to deliver the third generation of instruments. The first of these, OSIRIS, was delivered in February 2005 and is now in shared risk operation. OSIRIS is the second instrument at the Observatory to be routinely used with laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS AO) on the Keck II telescope. LGS AO is now a regularly offered observing mode with a steadily increasing number of nights being made available to our community. AO developments underway at the Observatory include new wavefront controllers for the Keck I and Keck II AO systems, and the development of a solid state laser for the Keck I telescope (in collaboration with the Gemini Observatory). The development of Keck-Keck interferometry continues, with the V² capability offered for routine observing and the Nuller in the commissioning process. Other developments include our next third generation instrument, a near-IR multi-object spectrograph (MOSFIRE), and a detector upgrade for the red channel of the LRIS instrument. Our atmospheric dispersion corrector (ADC) for the Cassegrain focus of the Keck I telescope is nearing completion, and the detector upgrade for the HIRES spectrograph has been in routine operation for over a year. We are also developing a new acquisition, guiding and image quality monitoring system to replace all of the visible wavelength instrument guiders and acquisition cameras at the Observatory.

The ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Paranal mountain in northern Chile comprises four 8.2m diameter "Unit Telescopes"; three 1.8m movable outrigger telescopes (shortly to be 4) for interferometry and the enclosures for two survey telescopes - the 2.6m VST to be used in the visible and the 4m class, infrared VISTA telescope which will both start commissioning in 2006. Here I will give an overview of the accompanying large instrument development programme which has so far delivered 9 operational facility instruments for the UT's (plus a visitor focus) and 2 major instruments for the interferometric focus. In addition, the laser guide star facility to be used to generate artificial (sodium) stars for the adaptive optics assisted instruments NACO and SINFONI is being commissioned; the optical and infrared cameras for the survey telescopes are almost ready; the CRIRES high resolution infrared spectrograph is being commissioned on UT1; the infrared imager HAWK-I is being assembled at ESO Garching; four major second generation instruments for the UTs (X-Shooter, KMOS, MUSE and SPHERE) are at various stages of development throughout Europe and Phase A studies of three second generation interferometric instruments (MATISSE, VSI and GRAVITY) have just been launched.

The status and performance of the first-generation instruments of the Subaru Telescope are reviewed together with their open use statistics and some of the science outcomes. Four second-generation instruments under fabrication are also introduced.

First, a status report is given for the on-going (Phase 2) instruments under construction now for Gemini. These instruments will be deployed during 2006 and 2007 at Gemini-South and collectively represent the end of an era of instrument building within the Gemini Partnership. Next, scientific applications and technical details for the next generation of "Aspen" instruments is described. These advanced future instruments will support breakthrough research in areas like extra-solar planets, dark matter, and dark energy. Gemini's ambitious adaptive optics development program in both current and future Aspen instruments is also described. Finally, a look back at some of the trials and tribulations of building instruments at Gemini is presented, with an eye toward the lessons of yesterday, how they helped mold today's program, and how they will likely impact the procurement of future instruments at Gemini.

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is an innovative large telescope of 9.2 meter aperture, located in West Texas at McDonald Observatory. The HET operates with a fixed segmented primary and has a tracker which moves the four-mirror corrector and prime focus instrument package to track the sidereal and non-sidereal motions of objects. The HET has been taking science data for six years. Work over the past two years has improved performance significantly, replacing the mirror coatings and installing metrology equipment to provide feedback that aids tracking and alignment of the primary mirror segments. The first phase of HET instrumentation includes three facility instruments: the Low Resolution Spectrograph (LRS), the Medium Resolution Spectrograph (MRS), and High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS). The current status of these instruments is described. A major upgrade of HET is planned that will increase the field of view to 22 arcminutes diameter, replacing the corrector, tracker and prime focus instrument package. This wide field upgrade will feed a revolutionary new integral field spectrograph called VIRUS, in support of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX).

The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) 10.4m telescope will be having its first light soon after this meeting. A fairly complete set of science instruments are being prepared for installation at the GTC soon after first light or a couple of year after in the case of the second generation instruments. In this talk I will describe the main features of the various instruments and discuss their completion status. In particular I will dwell on the Tuneable filters combined with a wide field and charge shuffling capabilities of OSIRIS, Elmer's outstanding throughput, and the thermal IR polarimetry and coronagraphy capabilities of CanariCam. I will also show the wide field multi-object K band spectroscopic capabilities of EMIR, the first of the second-generation instruments. Finally, I will describe CIRCE, a near IR camera being offered by the UF for GTC, and FRIDA, a near IR AO geared imager and IFU spectrograph meant to exploit the GTC AO system.

An overview of instrumentation for the Large Binocular Telescope is presented. Optical instrumentation includes the Large Binocular Camera (LBC), a pair of wide-field (27' × 27') mosaic CCD imagers at the prime focus, and the Multi-Object Double Spectrograph (MODS), a pair of dual-beam blue-red optimized long-slit spectrographs mounted at the straight-through F/15 Gregorian focus incorporating multiple slit masks for multi-object spectroscopy over a 6' field and spectral resolutions of up to 8000. Infrared instrumentation includes the LBT Near-IR Spectroscopic Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research (LUCIFER), a modular near-infrared (0.9-2.5 μm) imager and spectrograph pair mounted at a bent interior focal station and designed for seeing-limited (FOV: 4' × 4') imaging, long-slit spectroscopy, and multi-object spectroscopy utilizing cooled slit masks and diffraction limited (FOV: 0'.5 × 0'.5) imaging and long-slit spectroscopy. Strategic instruments under development for the remaining two combined focal stations include an interferometric cryogenic beam combiner with near-infrared and thermal-infrared instruments for Fizeau imaging and nulling interferometry (LBTI) and an optical bench near-infrared beam combiner utilizing multi-conjugate adaptive optics for high angular resolution and sensitivity (LINC-NIRVANA). In addition, a fiber-fed bench spectrograph (PEPSI) capable of ultra high resolution spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry (R = 40,000-300,000) will be available as a principal investigator instrument. The availability of all these instruments mounted simultaneously on the LBT permits unique science, flexible scheduling, and improved operational support.

"First light" of the Southern African Large Telescope was declared on 1 Sep 2005 and the first scientific programs have now begun. This paper discusses the completion and commissioning of the first-light instruments: the UV-visible imaging camera, SALTICAM, and the prime focus imaging spectrograph, the Robert Stobie Spectrograph (RSS). The innovative aspects and tight constraints on the design of these prime focus instruments are described, as well as the first scientific results. These instruments, which are all seeing limited, operate in the UV-visible region (320 - 900 nm), and will provide capabilities for broad and narrow band imaging, long-slit and multi-object spectroscopy (R ~ 6000 for seeing limit), spectropolarimetry and Fabry-Perot imaging spectroscopy (R ~ 320-9,000). Time resolved studies are an important aspect of the overall SALT science drivers and special efforts were made to ensure an ability to run at ~10 Hz, with minimal dead time, by employing frame transfer CCDs. Finally, we present the design and status of the fiber-fed high resolution echelle spectrograph, SALTHRS, the last of the "first generation" SALT instruments.

HyperSuprime is a next generation wide field camera proposed for the 8.3 m Subaru Telescope. The targeted field of view is larger than 1.5 deg in diameter, which will give us roughly 10 times increase of the survey speed compared with the existing prime focus camera (Suprime-Cam). An overview of the current status of the feasibility study is given.

The LSST camera is a wide-field optical (0.35-1um) imager designed to provide a 3.5 degree FOV with better than 0.2 arcsecond sampling. The detector format will be a circular mosaic providing approximately 3.2 Gigapixels per image. The camera includes a filter mechanism and, shuttering capability. It is positioned in the middle of the telescope where cross-sectional area is constrained by optical vignetting and heat dissipation must be controlled to limit thermal gradients in the optical beam. The fast, f/1.2 beam will require tight tolerances on the focal plane mechanical assembly. The focal plane array operates at a temperature of approximately -100°C to achieve desired detector performance. The focal plane array is contained within an evacuated cryostat, which incorporates detector front-end electronics and thermal control. The cryostat lens serves as an entrance window and vacuum seal for the cryostat. Similarly, the camera body lens serves as an entrance window and gas seal for the camera housing, which is filled with a suitable gas to provide the operating environment for the shutter and filter change mechanisms. The filter carousel can accommodate 5 filters, each 75 cm in diameter, for rapid exchange without external intervention.

Combining the two 8.4 m telescopes of the Large Binocular Telescope ¹(LBT) offers the unique possibility to achieve diffraction limited images with 23 m spatial resolution. This requires an interferometric superposition of the two telescope beams in a Fizeau-type interferometer. LINC-NIRVANA delivers a 10 arcsec x 10 arcsec panoramic field of view with 5 mas pixel size. In addition to delivering diffraction limited, single-telescope images, the optics have several additional constraints imposed by interferometric operation. In this paper, we describe the evolution of the optical design and how the individual optical subsystems were developed in parallel to provide optimal combined performance. We also present an alignment strategy to setup the optics and to achieve zero optical path difference.

The Dutch Open Telescope (DOT; http://dot.astro.uu.nl) on La Palma is a revolutionary open solar telescope, on an excellent site, on top of a transparent tower of steel framework, and uses natural air flow to minimize local seeing. The DOT is a high-resolution multi-wavelength imager capable of long-duration time series aiming at magnetic fine structure, topology and dynamics in the photosphere and low- and high chromosphere. In this paper we describe the latest addition to the multi-wavelength imaging system: a Lyot H-alpha camera channel operating at a wavelength of 656.3 nm, being of major interest for high-chromospheric phenomena. The channel is operated strictly synchronous with the other channels and all data are speckle reconstructed. The channel permits profile sampling and delivers Dopplergrams in a 15 second time cadence, up to several hours long and adding up to a total data amount of 1.6 Terabyte/day. A dedicated computer (DSP, DOT Speckle Processor) has been built for processing the data overnight.

Bigelow & Dressler¹ reported on the design and construction of IMACS - the Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph. IMACS was installed on the Magellan-Baade 6.5-m telescope at the Carnegie Institution's Las Campanas Observatory in Chile in August, 2003, and was phased into regular operation in the remaining months of that year (Osip et al²). IMACS is now the most-used instrument on the Baade telescope, accounting for 63% of the nights available for astronomy in the 2005 observing year. IMACS has two basic operating modes. A single 6-inch beam refractive collimator feeds either (1) an f/4 all-spherical refractive camera delivering 0.11 arcsec/pixel, or (2) a double-asphere refractive camera with oil-coupled multiplets producing a scale of 0.20 arcsec/pixel. The detector for both foci is an 8K x 8K mosaic camera of 8 SITe 2K x 4K 15 μ CCDs. The collimator and f/4 camera have performed to design specifications and have delivered 0.45 arcsec images across the 15 arcmin square field. The f/2 camera has delivered images of 0.55 to 0.65 arcsec across its 27 arcmin diameter field in excellent seeing (FWHM ~ 0.40 arcsec). The f/4 camera uses 6-inch reflecting gratings to obtain spectroscopy at multiple resolutions ranging from R=1350-9375; the f/2 camera uses three 6-inch grisms to achieve resolutions of R=450, 600, and 900 over its larger field. We routinely cut hundreds of slits in 30-inch diameter, stainless steel, spherical-shell slitmasks with a commercial laser system. Alignment procedures for observing are simple and efficient, typically requiring 5-10 minutes per set-up. IMACS - an unusually versatile instrument - includes an IFU built by Durham University with two 5" x 8" (f/2) or 4" x 7" (f/4) apertures, each sampled by 1000 optical fibers. A Multi-Object Echelle mode, which can obtain 10-15 full wavelength R=20000 spectra, has been fully tested and has now started regular operation. The Maryland-Magellan Tunable Filter (MMTF) has been lab tested and will be commissioned in June 2006. In early 2007, Gladder's Image-Slicing Multislit Option (GISMO) will be ready for testing, and a second Mosaic CCD camera - which will simplify operations, increase sensitivity, and allow rapid access to both f/2 and f/4 modes - is under construction. We report on the design challenges posed and met by the variety of operating modes and stringent performance requirements. We describe some issues encountered in the past two years in bringing such a complex, multi-mode instrument to the Magellan Observatory.

AAOmega is the new spectrograph for the 2dF fibre-positioning system on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. It is a bench-mounted, double-beamed design, using volume phase holographic (VPH) gratings and articulating cameras. It is fed by 392 fibres from either of the two 2dF field plates, or by the 512 fibre SPIRAL integral field unit (IFU) at Cassegrain focus. Wavelength coverage is 370 to 950nm and spectral resolution 1,000-8,000 in multi-Object mode, or 1,500-10,000 in IFU mode. Multi-object mode was commissioned in January 2006 and the IFU system will be commissioned in June 2006. The spectrograph is located off the telescope in a thermally isolated room and the 2dF fibres have been replaced by new 38m broadband fibres. Despite the increased fibre length, we have achieved a large increase in throughput by use of VPH gratings, more efficient coatings and new detectors - amounting to a factor of at least 2 in the red. The number of spectral resolution elements and the maximum resolution are both more than doubled, and the stability is an order of magnitude better. The spectrograph comprises: an f/3.15 Schmidt collimator, incorporating a dichroic beam-splitter; interchangeable VPH gratings; and articulating red and blue f/1.3 Schmidt cameras. Pupil size is 190mm, determined by the competing demands of cost, obstruction losses, and maximum resolution. A full suite of VPH gratings has been provided to cover resolutions 1,000 to 7,500, and up to 10,000 at particular wavelengths.

Unlike some integral field units (IFUs) in front of conventional slit spectrographs, PMAS is a dedicated fiber-optical integral field spectrograph, featuring two different types of IFUs to address both high spatial resolution and wide field-of-view (FoV) in a single instrument. The instrument was designed, built, and tested completely in-house at the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam from 1996 to 2000. It was commissioned at the Calar Alto 3.5m Telescope in May 2001. PMAS employs an all-refractive fiber spectrograph, built with CaF₂ optics, to provide good transmission and high image quality over the entire nominal wavelength range. A set of user-selectable reflective gratings provides low to medium spectral resolution in first order of approx. 1.5, 3.2, and 7 Å, depending on the groove density (1200, 600, 300 gr/mm). The standard IFU uses a 16×16 element lens array, which provides seeing-limited sampling in a relatively small field-of-view (FOV) in one of three magnifications (8×8, 12×12, or 16×16 arcsec², respectively). The additional fiber bundle IFU (PPak) expands the FOV to a hexagonal area with a footprint of 65×74 arcsec².

Ohio State is building two identical Multi-Object Double Spectrographs (MODS), one for each of the f/15 Gregorian foci of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). Each MODS is a high-throughput optical low- to medium-resolution CCD spectrometer operating in the 320-1000nm range with a 6.5-arcminute field-of-view. A dichroic distributes the science beam into separately-optimized red and blue channels that provide for direct imaging and up to 3 spectroscopic modes per channel. The identical MODS instruments may be operated together with digital data combination as a single instrument giving the LBT an effective aperture of 11.8-meter, or separately configured to flexibly use the twin 8.4-meter apertures. This paper describes progress on the integration and testing of MODS1, and plans for the deployment of MODS2 by the end of 2008 at the LBT.

The Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) is a second-generation VLT panoramic integral-field spectrograph under preliminary design study. MUSE has a field of 1x1 arcmin² sampled at 0.2x0.2 arcsec² and is assisted by the VLT ground layer adaptive optics ESO facility using four laser guide stars. The simultaneous spectral range is 0.465-0.93 μm, at a resolution of R~3000. MUSE couples the discovery potential of a large imaging device to the measuring capabilities of a high-quality spectrograph, while taking advantage of the increased spatial resolution provided by adaptive optics. This makes MUSE a unique and tremendously powerful instrument for discovering and characterizing objects that lie beyond the reach of even the deepest imaging surveys. MUSE has also a high spatial resolution mode with 7.5x7.5 arcsec² field of view sampled at 25 milli-arcsec. In this mode MUSE should be able to obtain diffraction limited data-cubes in the 0.6-0.93 μm wavelength range. Although the MUSE design has been optimized for the study of galaxy formation and evolution, it has a wide range of possible applications; e.g. monitoring of outer planets atmosphere, environment of young stellar objects, super massive black holes and active nuclei in nearby galaxies or massive spectroscopic surveys of stellar fields in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies.

High-resolution imaging spectropolarimetry in the visible and infrared wavelengths is the most effective and accurate observational diagnostic tool for many astrophysical problems, but many among them also require a spatially resolved two-dimensional field of view. However, it is difficult to achieve simultaneous three-dimensional (x, y, and λ) coverage using instruments with a conventional design. A conventional spectrograph achieves three-dimensional coverage either by scanning a tunable filter through the spectral window of interest, or by scanning a diffraction-grating-based long-slit spectrograph through the target region. Scanning in either spectral or spatial direction unavoidably degrades the quality of the data, and is time consuming. This paper describes a new visible/IR imaging spectropolarimeter design based on a novel birefringent fiber-optic image slicer and multiple-slit spectrograph. With this design, simultaneous 3-D imaging spectropolarimetry of astronomical objects with a large field of view and high spatial and spectral resolution can be achieved.

Elmer is an imager and spectrograph in the visible range that has been designed and managed within the GTC Project Office. Elmer will be installed at the telescope at the beginning of the commissioning phase. The observing modes of the instrument are: Imaging, Long Slit, Mask and Slit-less multi-object Spectroscopy, Fast Photometry and Fast short-slit Spectroscopy. The pupil elements are a set of conventional broad band and narrow band filters as well as a set of prisms, grisms and VPHs, that allow spectroscopy with resolving powers of 200, 1000 and 2500 between 365 and 1000nm. Elmer has been exhaustively tested and each of its observing modes has been fully characterized at the laboratory. This contribution summarizes the results of this Test Plan, showing the excellent performance of Elmer in both, Imaging and Spectroscopy modes that, together with the GTC, will lead to a powerful scientific return.

A multipurpose fiber-fed double-beam Schmidt spectrograph using VPHG (volume phase holographic gratings) is under construction for LAMOST (The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope). There are 16 such spectrographs (hereafter referred to as LRSs) for the project. The spectrographs are designed with wavelength coverage from 370 to 900 nm, with spectral resolutions of 1000-10000, and with multi-object capability over a 5 degrees field of view. Each spectrograph will be accommodating 250 fibers of 320 microns diameter (corresponding 3.3 arcsecs). The 200 mm diameter collimated beam is split into two separate channels. The blue channel is optimized for 370nm-590nm, and the red channel for 570nm-900nm. The LRS can work in several varied resolution modes. The optical design and performance is described. The spectrograph is of simple design with moderate image quality and good throughput. Progress on the construction of LRS is reported as well.

In recent years, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on achieving the diffraction limit with large aperture telescopes. For a well matched focal-plane instrument, the diffraction limit provides the highest possible angular resolution and sensitivity per pixel. But it offers another key advantage as we now show. Conventionally, as the telescope aperture D grows, the instrument size grows in proportion to D, and the cost increases as D² or faster. However, an instrument that operates at the diffraction limit can break the trend of spiralling costs. In traditional instruments, the light must pass through a succession of large lenses, mirrors and gratings, making it difficult to conserve the integrity of such a small psf. An alternative approach, as we now show, is to couple the diffraction-limited beam directly into an integrated photonic spectrograph operating in low-order modes.

Superconducting Tunnel Junctions (STJs) have been extensively investigated as photon detectors covering the range from near-infrared to X-ray energies. A 10×12 array of Tantalum/Aluminium junctions has been integrated into the S-Cam3 camera for ground based astronomy. With this camera, the European Space Agency has performed multiple astronomical observations of optical sources using the William Herschel 4.2m telescope at La Palma and the Agency's 1-m Optical Ground Station telescope at Tenerife. Compared to its predecessor, this new instrument features a 10"×12" field-of-view, an optimized IR rejection reducing baseline noise and increasing optical light throughput and ultra-stable operations. In this paper, we review the instrument's architecture and describe the system's performance and in particular the energy resolution and count-rate capabilities of the detector arrays. Finally, we shall present first astronomical images taken during the Optical Ground Station's 2005 and 2006 campaigns which demonstrate the system's timing, photometric and spectroscopic capabilities.

We present results from the first two years of operations of the HARPS spectrograph installed on the ESO 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory, Chile. This instrument, primarily built to detect extrasolar planetary systems, was designed to achieve the highest radial velocity precision ever, thanks to high mechanical and environmental stability, stable illumination, accurate wavelength calibration and tracking of instrumental drifts. HARPS has demonstrated a long-term accuracy at the 1 m s^-1 level and below, exploring a new regime in RV precision. We present recent improvements in the wavelength calibration process, including the creation of a new ThAr reference atlas and the use of a much larger number of lines to fit the wavelength solution. We have also investigated the intrinsic stability of ThAr calibration lamps and show that they are able to provide a long-term wavelength reference at or below the 1 m s^-1 level. Other instrumental error sources such as guiding accuracy and photon noise are discussed and a global error budget is presented. These efforts to further improve the RV precision are also part of a broader study to build a ultra-high accuracy spectrovelocimeter for the ESO OWL telescope, the CODEX project. The aim of this instrument is to reach an accuracy of 1 cm s^-1 over timescales of at least ten years. This requires to push down the limits of present-day calibration techniques and to explore new technologies able to provide ultra-precise Doppler measurements.

The Planet Finder instrument for ESO's VLT telescope, scheduled for first light in 2010, aims to detect giant extra-solar planets in the vicinity of bright stars and to characterise the objects found through spectroscopic and polarimetric observations. The observations will be done both within the Y, J, H and Ks atmospheric windows (~0.95 - 2.32μm) by the aid of a dual imaging camera (IRDIS) and an integral field spectrograph (IFS), and in the visible using a fast-modulation polarization camera (ZIMPOL). The instrument employs an extreme-AO turbulence compensation system, focal plane tip-tilt correction, and interferential coronagraphs. We describe briefly the science goals of the instrument and deduce the top-level requirements. The system architecture is presented, including brief descriptions of each of the main sub-systems. Expected performance is described in terms of end-to-end simulations, and a semi-analytic performance-estimation tool for system-level sensitivity analysis is presented.

Direct detection of the light scattered from extra-solar planets is important in establishing the planet's mass, radius, albedo and nature of the particles in the planetary atmosphere. We describe, and present results from, a new optical polarimeter (PlanetPol) designed to reach fractional polarizations of 10^-6 or better from ground-based telescopes, necessary to detect the polarization signature of unresolved hot-Jupiters.

Unpolarized light from the central star that is reflected by exoplanets, protoplanetary disks, and debris disks becomes partially polarized by the reflection process. Imaging polarimetry is therefore the ideal way to discriminate between the polarized light from circumstellar environments and the unpolarized light from the nearby central star. A sensitivity of 10^-5 (fraction of polarized intensity to the total intensity) must be achieved to detect exoplanets; 10^-4 is sufficient for disks. Based on extensive experience in precision polarimetry of the Sun, the newly formed experimental astrophysics group at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, will design, build, and use a high-precision imaging polarimeter for use at the 4.2-meter William Herschel Telescope. Since systematic errors typically limit conventional imaging polarimeters to about 10^-3, laboratory setups and theoretical models will be used to understand and then minimize and/or calibrate systematic errors. Published catalogues of exoplanets and stars that harbor disks will guide extensive observations with this new polarimeter. The effort will focus on retrieving fundamental properties of circumstellar environments that cannot be obtained with other observational approaches.

Clio is an adaptive-optics camera mounted on the 6.5 meter MMT optimized for diffraction-limited L' and M-band imaging over a ~ 15" field. The instrument was designed from the ground up with a large well-depth, fast readout thermal infrared (~ 3_5μm) 320 by 256 pixel InSb detector, cooled optics, and associated focal plane and pupil masks (with the option for a coronograph) to minimize the thermal background and maximize throughput. When coupled with the MMT's adaptive secondary AO (two warm reflections) system's low thermal background, this instrument is in a unique position to image nearby warm planets, which are the brightest in the L' and M-band atmospheric windows. We present the current status of this recently commissioned instrument that performed exceptionally during first light. Our instrument sensitivities are impressive and are sky background limited: for an hour of integration, we obtain an L'-band 5 σ detection limit of of 17.0 magnitudes ~ 80%) and an M-band limit of 14.5 (Strehl ~ 90%). Our M-band sensitivity is lower due to the increase in thermal sky background. These sensitivities translate to finding relatively young planets five times Jupiter mass (M_Jup) at 10 pc within a few AU of a star. Presently, a large Clio survey of nearby stellar systems is underway including a search for planets around solar-type stars, M dwarfs, and white dwarfs. Even with a null result, we can place strong constraints on planet distribution models.

Direct exploration of exoplanets is one of the most exciting topics in astronomy. Our current efforts in this field are concentrated on the Subaru 8.2m telescope at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Making use of the good observing site and the excellent image quality, the infrared coronagraph CIAO (Coronagraphic Imager with Adaptive Optics) has been used for various kinds of surveys, which is the first dedicated cold coronagraph on the 8-10m class telescopes. However, its contrast is limited by the low-order adaptive optics and a limited suppression of the halo speckle noise. HiCIAO is a new high-contrast instrument for the Subaru telescope. HiCIAO will be used in conjunction with the new adaptive optics system (188 actuators and/or its laser guide star - AO188/LGSAO188) at the Subaru infrared Nasmyth platform. It is designed as a flexible camera comprising several modules that can be configured into different modes of operation. The main modules are the AO module with its future extreme AO capability, the warm coronagraph module, and the cold infrared camera module. HiCIAO can combine coronagraphic techniques with either polarization or spectral simultaneous differential imaging modes. The basic concept of such differential imaging is to split up the image into two or more images, and then use either different planes of polarization or different spectral filter band-passes to produce a signal that distinguishes faint objects near a bright central object from scattered halo or residual speckles. In this contribution, we will outline the HiCIAO instrument, its science, and performance simulations. The optical and mechanical details are described by Hodapp et al. (2006)¹. We also present a roadmap of Japanese facilities and future plans, including ASTRO-F (AKARI), SPICA, and JTPF, for extrasolar planet explorations.

HAWK-I is a new wide-field infrared camera under development at ESO. With four Hawaii-2RG detectors, a 7.5 arcminute square field of view and 0.1 arcsecond pixels, it will be an optimum imager for the VLT, and a major enhancement to existing and future infrared capabilities at ESO. HAWK-I will eventually make use of ground-layer AO achieved through a deformable secondary mirror/laser guide star facility planned for the VLT.

We describe the integration and test phase of the construction of the VISTA Infrared Camera, a 64 Megapixel, 1.65 degree field of view 0.9-2.4 micron camera which will soon be operating at the cassegrain focus of the 4m VISTA telescope. The camera incorporates sixteen IR detectors and six CCD detectors which are used to provide autoguiding and wavefront sensing information to the VISTA telescope control system.

The UKIRT Wide-Field Camera (WFCAM) was commissioned in two phases between October and December 2004, and March and April 2005. It has been carrying out full-scale sky survey operations since May 2005. This paper describes the commissioning process and compares actual performance on the telescope with specifications in four key areas: optical image quality including delivered FWHM and ghosting etc., noise and sensitivity in the infrared and on the visible autoguider, array artifacts such as crosstalk and persistent images, and observing efficiency. A comprehensive program of science verification was carried out before commencing the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS).

CFHTs experience with interlacing science and guide pixel readout using the Hawaii-2RG infrared sensors on WIRCam has been problematic due to timing limitations inherent to this approach as well as unexpected behaviour in the sensors themselves. These problems have been overcome by implementing high-speed readout (1.4 s per read) for WIRCam's array of four Hawaii-2RG sensors, obviating the need for interlaced readout. The effect of the reset anomaly on the science and guide frames has been minimized by introducing suitable delays and a clocking scheme that does not significantly impact the minimum exposure time of the camera.

The Megapixel Mid-infrared Instrument (MegaMIR) is a proposed Fizeau-mode camera for the Large Binocular Telescope operating at wavelengths between 5 and 28 μm. The camera will be used in conjunction with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), a cryogenic optical system that combines the beams from twin 8.4-m telescopes in a phase coherent manner. Unlike other interferometric systems, the co-mounted telescopes on the LBT satisfy the sine condition, providing diffraction-limited resolution over the 40" field of view of the camera. With a 22.8-m baseline, MegaMIR will yield 0.1" angular resolution, making it the highest resolution wide field imager in the thermal infrared for at least the next decade. MegaMIR will utilize a newly developed 1024 x 1024 pixel Si:As detector array that has been optimized for use at high backgrounds. This new detector is a derivative of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) low-background detector. The combination of high angular resolution and wide field imaging will be a unique scientific capability for astronomy. Key benefits will be realized in planetary science, galactic, and extra-galactic astronomy. High angular resolution is essential to disentangle highly complex sources, particularly in star formation regions and external galaxies, and MegaMIR provides this performance over a full field of view. Because of the great impact being made by space observatories like the Spitzer Space Telescope, the number of available targets for study has greatly increased in recent years, and MegaMIR will allow efficient follow up science.

We report on new development and testing of FORCAST, the Faint Object infraRed Camera for the SOFIA Telescope. FORCAST will offer dual channel imaging in discrete filters at 5 - 25 microns and 30 - 40 microns, with diffraction-limited imaging at wavelengths > 15 microns. FORCAST will have a plate scale of 0.75 arcsec per pixel, giving it a 3.2 arcmin x 3.2 arcmin FOV on SOFIA. In addition, a set of grisms will enable FORCAST to perform long slit and cross-dispersed spectroscopic observations at low to moderate resolution (R ~ 140 - 1200) in the bandpasses 4.9 - 8.1 microns, 8.0 - 13.3 microns, 17.1 - 28.1 microns, and 28.6 - 37.4 microns. FORCAST has seen first light at the Palomar 200 inch telescope. It will be available for astronomical observations and facility testing at SOFIA first flight.

VISIR is the mid-infrared instrument installed in 2004 at the Cassegrain focus of MELIPAL, one of the four 8-meter telescopes of the European Very Large Telescope program. This cryogenic instrument, optimized for diffraction-limited performances in both mid-infrared atmospheric windows (N and Q bands), combines imaging capabilities and long-slit grating spectroscopy with spectral resolutions up to R=25000 at 10 μm and 12500 at 20 μm. The contract to design and build VISIR was signed in November 1996 between the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and a French-Dutch consortium of institutes led by Service d'Astrophysique of Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA). After extensive tests in the laboratory, VISIR was shipped to Paranal in March 2004. After successful commissioning between May and August 2004 and science verification between September 2004 and January 2005, routine science operations started in April 2005. The status of VISIR after 2 years of operation at the telescope is reviewed. This complex instrument, which features 14 cryogenic actuators to set the various observing possibilities, has been working without technical failure. The on-sky sensitivities are close to expectations. The median seeing conditions at Paranal (about 0.8-0.9 arcsec in the visible) are an issue to get routinely diffraction-limited images. Simple tip tilt adaptative corrections would be needed. For bright enough sources (a few Jansky), the so-called "burst mode", which allows to store up to 1500 individual frames (10-50 ms each) can be used to retrieve, off-line, diffraction-limited angular resolution (0.3 arcsec at 10 microns).

The Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) has been in successful use on the Gemini South 8-m telescope for over two years. We describe the performance of the instrument and discuss how it matches the expectations from the design. We also examine the lessons to be learned regarding the design and operation of similar large cryogenic facility instruments.

The Infrared Multi-Object Spectrometer employs a novel approach to slit definition by using a rapidly configured array of 848 x 600 MEMS mirrors. Developed by a collaboration between STScI, NASA/GSFC, and KPNO, IRMOS provides low to medium resolution spectroscopy of several tens of simultaneous targets in the Z, J, H, and K bands. IRMOS is presently undergoing commissioning to become a facility instrument at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 2006. We report on the success of this concept, the performance of the Texas Instruments DMD array of MEMS mirrors in this application, and our ongoing software development. Examples of observations using both a "Point and Click" approach to slit positioning and the synthesis of full aperture integral field spectroscopy using Hadamard slit mask patterns are presented.

MOIRCS is a new Cassegrain instrument of Subaru telescope, dedicated for wide field imaging and multi-object spectroscopy in near-infrared. MOIRCS has been constructed jointly by Tohoku University and the Subaru Telescope and saw the first light in Sept., 2004. The commissioning observations to study both imaging and spectroscopic performance were conducted for about one year. MOIRCS mounts two 2048 × 2048 HAWAII2 arrays and provides a field of view of 4' x 7' with a pixel scale of 0."117. All-lens optical design is optimized for 0.8 to 2.5 μm with no practical chromatic aberration. Observations confirm the high image quality over the field of view without any perceptible degradation even at the field edge. The best seeing we have obtained so far is FWHM=0."18. A novel design of MOIRCS enables us to perform multi-object spectroscopy with aluminum slit masks, which are housed in a carrousel dewar and cooled to ~ 110 K. When choosing MOS mode, a manipulator pulls out a slit mask from the carrousel into the MOIRCS main dewar and sets it properly at the Cassegrain focus. The carrousel is shuttered by a gate valve, so that it can be warmed and cooled independently to exchange slit-mask sets during daytime. We have tested various configurations of 30 or more multi-slit positions in various sky fields and found that targets are dropped at the centers of slits or guide holes within a dispersion of about 0.3 pixels (0."03). MOIRCS has been open to common use specifically for imaging observations since Feb. 2006. The MOS function will be available in next August.

We report on the design and status of the FLAMINGOS-2 instrument - a fully-cryogenic facility near-infrared imager and multi-object spectrograph for the Gemini 8-meter telescopes. FLAMINGOS-2 has a refractive all-spherical optical system providing 0.18-arcsecond pixels and a 6.2-arcminute circular field-of-view on a 2048×2048-pixel HAWAII-2 0.9-2.4 μm detector array. A slit/decker wheel mechanism allows the selection of up to 9 multi-object laser-machined plates or 3 long slits for spectroscopy over a 6×2-arcminute field of view, and selectable grisms provide resolutions from ~1300 to ~3000 over the entire spectrograph bandpass. FLAMINGOS-2 is also compatible with the Gemini Multi- Conjugate Adaptive Optics system, providing multi-object spectroscopic capabilities over a 3×1-arcminute field with high spatial resolution (0.09-arcsec/pixel). We review the designs of optical, mechanical, electronics, software, and On- Instrument WaveFront Sensor subsystems. We also present the current status of the project, currently in final testing in mid-2006.

EMIR, currently entering into its fabrication and AIV phase, will be one of the first common user instruments for the GTC, the 10 meter telescope under construction by GRANTECAN at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Canary Islands, Spain). EMIR is being built by a Consortium of Spanish and French institutes led by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC). EMIR is designed to realize one of the central goals of 10m class telescopes, allowing observers to obtain spectra for large numbers of faint sources in an time-efficient manner. EMIR is primarily designed to be operated as a MOS in the K band, but offers a wide range of observing modes, including imaging and spectroscopy, both long slit and multiobject, in the wavelength range 0.9 to 2.5 μm. It is equipped with two innovative subsystems: a robotic reconfigurable multislit mask and disperssive elements formed by the combination of high quality diffraction grating and conventional prisms, both at the heart of the instrument. The present status of development, expected performances, schedule and plans for scientific exploitation are described and discussed. The development and fabrication of EMIR is funded by GRANTECAN and the Plan Nacional de Astronomia y Astrofisica (National Plan for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Spain).

GIANO is an infrared (0.9-2.5 μm cross-dispersed echelle spectrometer designed to achieve high resolution, high throughput, wide band coverage and very high stability for accurate radial velocity measurements. It also includes polarimetric capabilities and a low resolution mode with RS ~ 400 and complete 0.75-2.5 μm coverage. This makes it a very versatile, common user instrument which will be permanently mounted and available on the Nasmyth-B foci of the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) located at Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory (ORM), La Palma, Spain. The project is fast-track and relies on well known, relatively standard technologies. It has been recognized as one of the top priority instrumental projects of INAF (the Italian National Institute of Astronomy) and received its first financing for the phase-A study in October 2003. Integration in the laboratory is planned to start before the end of 2006, commissioning at the telescope is foreseen within 2007 and scientific operations in 2008. One of the most important scientific goals is the search for rocky planets with habitable conditions around low-mass stars. If completed on time, GIANO will be the first and only IR instrument operating worldwide providing the combination of efficiency, spectral resolution, wavelength coverage and stability necessary for this type of research. With its unique combination of high and low resolution modes, GIANO will also be a very flexible common-user instrument ideal e.g. for quantitative spectroscopy of brown dwarfs, stars and stellar clusters as well as for the determination of the spectral energy distribution of faint/red objects such as high redshift galaxies. The expected limiting magnitudes are such that GIANO will be able to deliver good quality HR spectra of any 2MASS object and LR spectra of any object detected in the UKIDSS large area survey.

We present an overview of the OSIRIS integral field spectrograph which was recently commissioned on the Keck II Telescope. OSIRIS works with the Keck Adaptive Optics system and utilizes an infrared transmissive lenslet array to sample a rectangular field of view at close to the Keck diffraction limit. By packing the spectra close together (2 pixel rows per spectrum) and using the Rockwell Hawaii-2 detector (wavelengths between 1 and 2.5 microns), we achieve a relatively large field of view (up to 6."4) while maintaining full broad-band spectral coverage at a resolution of 3800. Among the challenges of the instrument are: a fully cryogenic design (approximately 250 kg are brought down to 55K); four spatial scales from 0."02 to 0."10; extremely low wavefront error (approximately 25 nm of non-common path error); large all aluminum optics for the spectrograph; extremely repeatable spectral formats; and a sophisticated data reduction pipeline. OSIRIS also serves as a starting point for our design of IRIS which is a planned integral field spectrograph for the Thirty Meter Telescope.

The Fiber Multiple-Object Spectrograph for Subaru Telescope (FMOS) is quite large instrument composed of the prime focus unit, the fiber bundle unit, and the two infrared spectrographs. Among these units, a part of the prime focus unit and one of the spectrograph were transported from Kyoto University to the Subaru Observatory in the middle of 2005. We present the optical and the mechanical components of the spectrograph, which was reassembled on the new floor of the Subaru dome. We also show the preliminary results of the optical alignment and the cooling test of the instrument at the summit of Mauna Kea.

KMOS is a near-infrared multi-object integral field spectrometer which has been selected as one of a suite of second-generation instruments to be constructed for the ESO VLT in Chile. The instrument will be built by a consortium of UK and German institutes working in partnership with ESO and is currently at the end of its preliminary design phase. We present the design status of KMOS and discuss the most novel technical aspects and the compliance with the technical specification.

We report the development of the first high resolution cross-dispersed silicon immersion grating spectrometer. This instrument is called the Florida IR Silicon immersion grating specTrometer (FIRST). FIRST can produce R = 50,000 under a 0.6 arcsec seeing and simultaneously cover 1.3-1.8 μm with a 1kx1k HgCdTe array at the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 meter telescope. FIRST has a 50 mm diameter collimated beam and the overall instrument is within a volume of 0.8x0.5x0.5 m³. The high dispersion, large wavelength coverage and small instrument volume become possible due to the use of a silicon immersion grating (54.7 deg blaze angle and 50 mm diameter entrance pupil) with extremely high dispersion power (3.4 times dispersion power of a conventional echelle) and coarse grooves (16.1 l/mm, coarser than the commercially available echelles). The silicon immersion grating used in a lab bench mounted Czeney-Turner spectrograph with an only 25 mm diameter collimated beam and a 100 um core fiber has produced R = 55,000 cross-dispersed solar spectra. This instrument is designed to precisely measure radial velocities of low mass stars, M dwarfs for detecting 5-10 Earth mass planets. The estimated Doppler precision is ~ 3 m/s for a J = 9 M5V dwarf in 15 min at the APO 3.5m telescope.

The TEDI (TripleSpec Externally Dispersed Interferometry) is an interferometric spectrometer that will be used to explore the population of planets around the lowest mass stars. The instrument, to be deployed on the Palomar 200 Cassegrain mount, includes a stabilized Michelson interferometer combined with a medium resolution, broad band (0.8 - 2.4 micron) spectrograph, TripleSpec. We describe the instrument design and its application to Doppler velocimetry and high-resolution spectroscopy.

FIFI LS is a far-infrared integral field spectrometer for the SOFIA airborne observatory. The instrument is designed to maximize the observing efficiency by simultaneous and nearly independent imaging of the field-of-view in two medium spectral resolution bands. We present a summary of the FIFI LS design and the current status of instrument development. Its unique features as the large far-infrared photoconductor detectors, its integral field concept, and control system will be highlighted. Special attention will be given to the Extended Observing Opportunity Program, which will allow general access to FIFI LS on SOFIA.

FIFI LS is a Field-Imaging Line Spectrometer designed for the SOFIA airborne observatory. The instrument will operate in the far infrared wavelength range between 42 to 210 microns. Two spectrometer bands from 42 - 110 microns ('blue' channel) and 110 - 210 microns ('red' channel) allow simultaneous and independent diffraction limited 3D imaging over a field of view of 6 x 6 and 12 x 12 arcseconds respectively. Both spectrometer channels use Littrow mounted diffraction gratings, a set of anamorphic collimators, and a reflective integral field unit. Two large scale 25 x 16 pixel Ge:Ga detector arrays are utilized, axially stressed in the red channel and only slightly stressed in the blue channel. The spectral resolution of the instrument varies between R = 1400 to 6500 depending on wavelength. The sensitivity of the instrument will allow background limited performance over the entire wavelength range. We present test results for the components in the optical path of FIFI LS including grating efficiencies, filter characteristics, detector performance, and optical throughput. Based on our measurements we characterized and optimized the overall system performance to maximize observing efficiency - one of the major instrument design criteria.

The Echelon-cross-Echelle Spectrograph (EXES) will provide the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) with high spectral resolution capabilities in the mid-infrared. EXES will have a maximum spectral resolving power of 100,000 along with lower resolution options (R=10,000; R=3000). EXES on SOFIA will provide sensitivity and spectral resolution never before available from an orbital or sub-orbital platform. Because of the wealth of molecular features in the EXES spectral range, 4.5 to 28.3 μm, and the dramatic reduction in telluric atmospheric interfence provided by SOFIA, EXES will be particularly relevant for studies of the solar system, star formation and the interstellar medium. We report on the EXES design and current status, provide descriptions of observing modes and sensitivity estimates, discuss the calibration and likely data products, and describe the potential gains of incorporating a 1024 × 1024, low-background, Si:As detector array.

FLITECAM, a near-infrared instrument being developed at the UCLA Infrared lab, will be the first light infrared instrument for NASA's SOFIA aircraft. In addition to its imaging capability, FLITECAM has been equipped with three direct-ruled KRS-5 grisms, allowing observations in 9 spectral bands, and giving nearly continuous spectral coverage from 1 to 5.5 microns. The design favors regions of the spectrum that are heavily attenuated except at high altitudes. The grisms are used with a dual-width long slit to yield a spectral resolution of R~1700 at high resolution and R~900 at low resolution. This resolution is better than that of the IRAS, ISO or KAO spectrometers, and covers a spectral regime left unsampled by the Spitzer Space Telescope. When used on the SOFIA, FLITECAM's spectroscopic mode will allow astronomical investigation of near-infrared features at a low water vapor overburden. The grism spectroscopic mode has been demonstrated on the Shane 120 inch telescope at Lick Observatory by observations of astronomical targets of interest, especially the PAH feature at 3.3 microns in HII regions and young planetary nebulae.

We discuss the performance of the Image Motion Compensation System (IMCS) for the Multi-Object Double Spectrograph (MODS). The system performs closed-loop image motion compensation, actively correcting for image motion in the spectrograph's focal plane caused by large scale structural bending due to gravity as well as other effects such as temperature fluctuation and mechanism flexure within the instrument. Not only does the system control instrumental flexure to within the specifications (0.1 pixels on the science CCD, or 1.5 μm), but it also has proven to be an excellent diagnostic tool for assembling and testing the spectrograph. We describe both the final performance of the system as deployed in the spectrograph as well as the instrumental tests made possible by the IMCS.

The burgeoning field of astrophotonics explores the interface between astronomy and photonics. Important applications include photonic OH suppression at near-infrared wavelengths, and integrated photonic spectroscopy. These new photonic mechanisms are not well matched to conventional multi-mode fibre bundles, and are best fed with single or few-mode fibres. We envisage the largest gains in astrophotonics will come from instruments that operate with single or few mode fibres in the diffraction limited or near diffraction limited regime. While astronomical instruments have largely solved the problem of coupling light into multi-mode fibres, this is largely unexplored territory for few-mode and single-mode fibres. Here we describe a project to explore this topic in detail, and present initial results on coupling light into single and few-mode fibres at the diffraction limit. We find that fibres with as few as ~ 5 guided modes have qualitatively different behaviour to single-mode fibres and share a number of the beneficial characteristics of multi-mode fibres.

Corning has developed a number of manufacturing and test techniques to meet the challenging requirements of imaging hyperspectral optical systems. These processes have been developed for applications in the short-wave visible through long-wave IR wavelengths. Optical designs for these imaging systems are typically Offner or Dyson configurations, where the critical optical components are powered gratings and slits. Precision alignment, system athermalization, and harsh environmental requirements, for these systems drive system level performance and production viability. This paper will present the results of these techniques including all aluminum gratings and slits, innovative grating profiles, snap together self-aligning mechanical designs, and visible test techniques for IR systems.

The Gemini/Subaru WFMOS project has given the stimulus for considering new concepts for massively multiplexed fiber positioning schemes. The problem of acquiring many thousands of objects within a ~1.5° field at Subaru's ~f/2 prime-focus station represents a challenge to normal concepts of fiber positioning. Solutions usually involve imposing limits to the patrol field of each fiber. Using this simplification, a new concept is proposed which moves objects onto a fixed array of fibers rather than moving the fiber themselves. Such a scheme may simplify the manufacturing and assembly processes and may result in a more robust solution compatible with the challenging prime-focus environment. We describe the POSM concept and present an initial opto-mechanical layout.

We report on the first implementation of phase apodization for high-contrast imaging at close inner working angle. It is designed for use in the 5 micron M band with the adaptive optics system at the MMT, which uses a deformable secondary for low thermal background and achieves a Strehl ratio of 90% at 5 microns. The method uses a diamond-turned ZnSe phase plate located at a cold pupil stop to diffract starlight into an "anti-halo" which suppresses the Airy diffraction pattern over a semi-circular region around the star. The design was optimized for strong suppression from the first bright Airy ring out to the control radius achievable with the MMT deformable secondary, about 9 λ/D. The time-averaged PSF of a bright star agrees well with the design profile, the core with FWHM of 0.18 arcsec showing the diffraction-limited resolution of the full aperture. At 0.34 arcsec radius (2 λ/D) the floor level is 3.5x10^-3 of the central peak, limited by residual atmospheric errors with 3 m wavelength across the aperture. The measured fluctuations at this radius averaged over 20 seconds are 2.5x10^-4 rms (9 magnitudes down from the peak). With the addition of active feedback to control residual speckles caused by static wavefront errors and with longer exposures, we project that exoplanet searches should reach 5 σ sensitivity level > 10 magnitudes in an hour of integration.

We describe the design and construction of the Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC) for the Keck-I Cassegrain focus. This is a "linear" or "longitudinal" ADC with fused silica prisms slightly over 1-meter in diameter. It is designed to operate at zenith distances up to 60 degrees and over a 20 arcminute field-of-view with negligible impact on image quality and throughput, and to provide dispersion compensation from 0.31 to 1.1 microns. During the design phase, it was realized that the LADC design effectively displaces the optical axis of the telescope as the prisms separate, leading to (a) a tilting of the focal surface, and (b) a change in telescope pointing. Both effects can have significant consequences, particularly for off-axis instruments, and should be carefully considered in selecting this ADC design. We also discuss in some detail the broad-band anti-reflection coatings, which consist of silica Sol-gel over MgF₂. The Keck ADC is currently undergoing final assembly and testing at the UCO/Lick Observatory Instrument Labs, and will be commissioned in late 2006.

This paper addresses the performance of a suite of grisms as part of an Astrobiology Science and Instrument Development (ASTID) Program to implement a moderate resolution spectroscopic capability in the mid/far-IR facility instrument FORCAST for the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). A moderate resolution mid-IR spectrometer on SOFIA will offer advantages not available to either ground or space-based instruments after the Spitzer Space Telescope ceases operation in ~2008. SOFIA will begin operations in 2008 and will have an operational lifetime of ~20 years. From aircraft altitudes, it will be possible to cover a wide range of wavelengths, particularly in the critical 5-9 micron band, where detection of astrobiologically interesting molecules have key spectral signatures that are not accessible from the ground The FORCAST grism suite consists of six grisms: four monolithic Si grisms and two KRS-5 grisms. These devices will allow long-slit low-resolution (R = 100-300) and short-slit, cross-dispersed high-resolution spectroscopic modes (R = 800-1200) over select wavelengths in the 5-40 μm spectral range and enable observing programs to gather both images and spectra in a single SOFIA flight. The silicon grisms demonstrate a new family of dispersive elements with good optical performance for spectroscopy from 1.2-8 μm and beyond 18 μm. After SOFIA flies, the grism modes in FORCAST will complement other first generation instruments on SOFIA and provide follow-up capability of bright sources observed with Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on Spitzer. This paper highlights the design of the grism suite for FORCAST and the current laboratory cryogenic performance of the silicon grisms.

We report on the development of instrument concepts for a European ELT, expanding on studies carried out as part of the ESO OWL concept. A range of instruments were chosen to demonstrate how an ELT could meet or approach the goals generated by the OPTICON science team, and used to push the specifications and requirements of telescope and adaptive optics systems. Preliminary conclusions are presented, along with a plan for further more detailed instrument design and technology developments. This activity is supported by the European Community (Framework Programme 6, ELT Design Study, contract number 011863).

The Thirty-Meter Telescope Project (TMT) aims to build a diffraction-limited, 30-m segmented mirror telescope with first light set for 2014 and first science operations for 2015. The telescope, its comprehensive adaptive optics architecture and its instruments are being designed as an end-to-end system in order to meet the demands of AO-based science. The TMT Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) has defined challenging scientific programs ranging from the tomographic exploration of the cosmic web of intergalactic hydrogen to extrasolar planets and has identified a suite of instrumental capabilities that will be required to carry them out during the first decade of TMT operation. The TMT instrumentation program has just completed a feasibility phase in which seven instrument concepts were studied. These studies have yielded innovative concepts that stretch the TMT discovery space and system-wide performance, and they are helping define detailed requirements for the telescope and observatory subsystems. Highlights from these studies are summarized and discussed.

We discuss the possibility of improving the optical efficiency of ELT instruments by reducing the number of optical surfaces with highly aspheric optics generated by deformable mirrors (DMs). Preliminary analysis shows that a 2 aspheric mirror design could in principle replace a traditional optical design with a complex series of ~ 10 lenses, providing a potential gain in efficiency of ~ 20% as well as a significant gain in compactness. New OH suppression systems based on technologies from the photonics world become available that may ultimately allow to reduce the near IR sky brightness by 2 to 4 magnitudes, depending on wavelength. The potential performance of an ELT with OH suppression is similar in imaging and significantly higher in spectroscopy than JWST.

We present a conceptual design for a High Resolution Optical Spectrograph (HROS) for the Thirty Meter Telescope, a 30-m primary aperture ground-based telescope currently under development (www.tmt.org). To decouple downstream optics sizes from the size of the seeing disk and/or AO performance, we use fiber fed IFUs to generate a 0.1" pseudo-slit. The use of multiple IFUs instead of a slit also allows for spatially resolved spectroscopy, multi-object spectroscopy, positionable sky sampling, and insertion of a simultaneous wavelength calibration signal into the beam. Instead of a cross-dispersed echelle design, our concept uses a dichroic tree to provide spectral separation. The dichroics feed 32 independent first-order spectrographs that cover the 310 to 1100 nm optical waveband at a nominal spectral resolution of R=100,000. This approach allows for the optimization of coatings and on-blaze grating performance in each channel, resulting in high efficiency, near-uniform dispersion, and reduced program risk and cost due to the high degree of component commonality. We also discuss the general applicability of this concept for achieving high resolution spectroscopy in the next generation of ground-based instrumentation.

We have carried out a conceptual study for an instrument (QuantEYE) capable to detect and measure photon-stream statistics, e.g. power spectra or autocorrelation functions. Such functions increase with the square of the detected signal, implying an enormously increased sensitivity at the future Extremely Large Telescopes, such as the OverWhelmingly Large (OWL) telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Furthermore, QuantEYE will have the capability of exploring astrophysical variability on microsecond and nanosecond scales, down to the quantum-optical limit. Expected observable phenomena include instabilities of photon-gas bubbles in accretion flows, p-mode oscillations in neutron stars, and quantum-optical photon bunching in time. This paper describes QuantEYE, an instrument aimed to realize the just described science, proposed for installation at the ESO OWL telescope focal plane. The adopted optical solution is relatively simple and possible with actual technologies, the main constraint essentially being the present limited availability of very fast photon counting detector arrays. Also some possible alternative designs are described, assuming a future technology development of fast photon counting detector arrays.

WFOS (Wide Field Optical Spectrograph) will provide near-UV, visible and near-IR multi-object spectroscopy and imaging capabilities for the TMT (Thirty Meter Telescope). The instrument concept is a multi-barrel approach, with four separate fields on the telescope focal plane providing a total of 92.4 square arcminutes of coverage. The core wavelength coverage is 340nm to 1000nm with an optional near-IR extension to 1.6 microns. Each barrel feeds two cameras allowing simultaneous spectral coverage in the blue and red. Spectral resolutions range from R150 to R7500 for a 0.75" slit using standard ruled transmission gratings and VPH technology. A GLAO (Ground Layer Adaptive Optics) system utilizing the TMT adaptive secondary mirror is included in the instrument concept. This paper describes the scientific goals for WFOS and the overall instrument mechanical, optical and system design.

The Giant Magellan Telescope, with seven 8.4 meter primary mirrors, is taking shape as one of the most powerful telescopes of the next generation. We describe a conceptual design for a powerful 0.85 to 2.50 μm imaging spectrograph that addresses a 7' by 7' field of view for imaging and a 5' by 7' field of view for spectroscopy at the GMT's f/8 Gregorian focus. The all-refractive optical design presses the limits of available lens blank diameters, but delivers excellent images (~0.15" 80% encircled energy) with just four collimator elements and five camera elements. The collimated beam diameter is 300 mm, and the detector is a 6K by 10K array. The spectrograph will use interchangeable slit masks, and an assortment of VPH and conventional surface relief gratings. Each of the entire J, H, or K bands can be observed with a resolution of 3000. The scientific potential of ground layer adaptive optics (GLAO) using a constellation of sodium laser guide stars appears to be very high in the near infrared. Simulations suggest that 0.2" FWHM images may be achieved across the entire 7' by 7' field of view of the spectrograph. We describe the design of the GLAO system with a versatile opto-mechanical design that allows rapid changeover between GLAO and seeing-limited observations.

MIDIR is a combined thermal/mid-infrared imager and spectrograph for the European Extremely Large Telescope (EELT). It will operate in the infrared L, M, N, and Q-band to 20μm with a goal to extend the wavelength coverage to 27μm if the atmospheric properties of the site are sufficiently good. MIDIR will offer imaging and spectroscopic modes over a wide range in spectral resolution. MIDIR will be designed for diffraction limited performance, requiring an optimized, cryogenic adaptive optics (AO) system. The conceptual study of MIDIR is part of a suite of eight ELT instrument "small studies" partly funded by the EU [1]. The study is being performed by an international consortium of Leiden Observatory, Astron, MPIA, UK-ATC, and ESO. The high level instrument requirements for MIDIR have been directly derived from numerous important science cases. In this paper we discuss the science case for MIDIR, provide a summary of the technical specifications, discuss the requirements on the AO system, and estimate the sensitivity in various observing modes. More technical details on the instrument are given in a parallel paper at this conference [2].

Historically, few astronomical measurements have required sub-percent accuracy in photometry. Measuring SNIa fluxes in order to determine cosmological parameters, however, often requires the comparison of images from different telescopes, and at different redshifts. This can introduce a myriad of sources of error. Conventional methods of data reduction are intrinsically flawed, either making assumptions about the effects of wavelength dependence in the response function of the system or, when K-corrections are not performed, neglecting them altogether. We consider the advantages of a method utilizing a direct, spectrally-resolved measurement of the entire system's response function relative to a calibrated photodiode.

The CCD imaging systems for the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) are being designed and built in the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC). LAMOST is to be equipped with 16 low-resolution spectrographs (LRS) with a total 32 CCD cameras. Each CCD camera consists of a LN2 cooling system, a CCD controller and a large-format scientific-grade CCD with 4K*4K pixels, two output registers and four output amplifiers. The CCD controller enables low readout noise, photometric stability and software-selectable switching from single- to four- output amplifier readout modes. The whole 32 CCD cameras need to be communicated with several network-connected computers. The computer cluster allows synchronized processes of accumulation and readout of CCD systems and rapid, reliable data transfer from CCD cameras. We introduce the current design of above components as well as its performance. And the design schedule of the CCD imaging systems for LAMOST is reported.

We have developed a low spectral resolution prism unit for the IRCS at the Subaru Telescope, which covers the wavelength range from 2 μm to 4 μm simultaneously. As the prism has high throughput compared to grism, it is an efficient observing mode for 3-μm water ice band and rapidly time varying objects such as asteroid. We report preliminary results of the performance verifications of the prism unit.

The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) of the Australian National University (ANU) at Mt Stromlo Observatory is developing a wide-field Cassegrain Imager for the new 1.3m SkyMapper Survey Telescope under construction for Siding Spring Observatory, NSW, Australia. The Imager features a fast-readout, low-noise 268 Million pixel CCD mosaic that provides a 5.7 square degree field of view. Given the close relative sizes of the telescope and Imager, the work is proceeding in close collaboration with the telescope's manufacturer, Electro Optics Systems Pty Ltd (Canberra, Australia). The design of the SkyMapper Imager focal plane is based on E2V (Chelmsford, UK) deep depletion CCDs. These devices have 2048 x 4096 15 micron pixels, and provide a 91% filling factor in our mosaic configuration of 4 x 8 chips. In addition, the devices have excellent quantum efficiency from 300nm-950nm, near perfect cosmetics, and low-read noise, making them well suited to the all-sky ultraviolet through near-IR Southern Sky Survey to be conducted by the telescope. The array will be controlled using modified versions of the new IOTA controllers being developed for Pan-STARRS by Onaka and Tonry et al. These controllers provide a cost effective, low-volume, high speed solution for our detector read-out requirements. The system will have an integrated 6-filter exchanger, and Shack-Hartmann optics, and will be cooled by closed-cycle helium coolers. This paper will present the specifications, and opto-mechanical and detector control design of the SkyMapper Imager, including the test results of the detector characterisation and manufacturing progress.

The advent of wide-field imagers on large telescopes (Megacam at CFHT, Suprime-Cam at Subaru, and others) with degree-wide fields of view is largely motivated by a renewed interest in our own solar system, in the history of the Milky Way and its neighbors, and in the large-scale structure of the Universe. Smaller, university-based telescopes can of course also benefit from wide-field imagery. We present in this paper the design and first results of Panoramix-II, the new wide-field imager of the Mont Megantic Observatory (OMM). This instrument is conceptually a focal reducer designed to image and correct the F/8 cassegrain focal plane of the telescope onto a pair of 2KX4K EEV detectors. The camera is optimized for the SLOAN g' (410-550 nm), r' (550-690 nm), i' (690-850 nm) and z' (850-950 nm) wave bands. The sky will be imaged onto the focal plane at an image scale of 0.52 arcsecond per 13.5 μm pixel. The design image quality is 1.00 arcsecond 50% diffraction encircled energy over the central 35 arcmin field and no images worse than 1.25 arcsecond over the 49 arcminute diameter camera field. The optical design distortion at the corners is less than 1%. The Panoramix-II camera has a filter wheel at the internal stop. Panoramix-II can also support the FaNTOmM photon-counting camera used in conjunction with a Fabry-Perot interferometer to provide spectrometric data.

The Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) is planned to have a state-of-the-art prime focus corrector which was described previously. The initial design contained I-line glasses which had long procurement times. Goodrich Corp. undertook a study funded by Lowell Observatory to determine whether significant savings in cost and schedule would be possible with an acceptable reduction in the performance of the telescope. This paper reports on changes in the optical design of the wide-field optical corrector (WFOC) with a view to eliminating the long-lead materials. The consequent changes in performance are also discussed. The required FWHM of the telescope was relaxed somewhat and the imaging requirements of the ultraviolet (U) band were eliminated. The new design meets the two-degree field of view requirement and recovers most of the performance in the ultraviolet.

The Prime Focus Imaging Spectrograph (PFIS) is a first light instrument for the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). PFIS is a versatile instrument designed to operate in a number of scientific modes by utilizing volume phase holographic gratings, Fabry-Perot etalons, and polarimetric optics, which are manipulated in and out of the beam using various placement mechanisms. The instrument is mounted at the prime focus 15m above the primary mirror and tilted at 37°. This remote placement and the need for 240° of rotation about the optical axis raises important design issues with mass, flexure and access. The instrument structure provides the interface to the telescope Prime Focus Instrument Platform (PFIP) as well as support points for all the optics, mechanisms and electrical equipment. The structure is a welded open truss of hollow, square-section Invar beams. The open truss provides the highest stiffness to weight ratio and minimizes the effect of wind loading, while the use of Invar negates the effects of thermal expansion. It has been designed using finite element analysis in conjunction with an optical tolerance analysis of the optics nodes to minimize effective image motion under the varying gravity load. The fundamentals of the design of the structure to minimize the flexure and its effect on image motion, the motivation for using the open Invar truss structure, and the design of the remotely operated mechanisms are discussed. In 2005 PFIS was installed and commissioned on SALT in South Africa. Included in this text are some of the results and experiences of taking PFIS into operation.

We describe a new project, the Dark Energy Survey (DES), aimed at measuring the dark energy equation of state parameter, w, to a statistical precision of ~5%, with four complementary techniques. The survey will use a new 3 sq. deg. mosaic camera (DECam) mounted at the prime focus of the Blanco 4m telescope at the Cerro-Tololo International Observatory (CTIO). DECam includes a large mosaic camera, a five element optical corrector, four filters (g,r,i,z), and the associated infrastructure for operation in the prime focus cage. The focal plane consists of 62 2K x 4K CCD modules (0.27"/pixel) arranged in a hexagon inscribed within the 2.2 deg. diameter field of view. We plan to use the 250 micron thick fully-depleted CCDs that have been developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). At Fermilab, we will establish a packaging factory to produce four-side buttable modules for the LBNL devices, as well as to test and grade the CCDs. R&D is underway and delivery of DECam to CTIO is scheduled for 2009.

In order to prospect for good astronomical sites in Morocco, we make a preliminary study in terms of aerosol characterization. For that purpose we use AERONET data and the Aerosol Index provided by Earth Probe platform. After establishing a good correlation between the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and the aerosol index (AI) in three sites located in the area of interest, we try to extrapolate to areas where AERONET data are not available. The studied areas are: Marrakech, Dakhla located in Morocco, and Izana in the Canary Islands. These areas exhibit a predominance of desert dust aerosol particles. The altitude seems to be the predominant factor influencing the distribution of the aerosol optical thickness during the year. A full characterization of these sites makes possible a determination of the aerosol optical thickness of neighbouring areas.

We report the design of a new generation multi-object high throughput Doppler instrument and first light results at the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) telescope. This instrument, capable of simultaneously monitoring 60 stars for planet detection, is called the W.M. Keck Exoplanet Tracker (or Keck ET) thanks to the generous gift from the W.M. Keck Foundation. It is designed for a planet survey around hundreds of thousands of stars with V =8-13 for detecting tens of thousands of planets in 2006-2020. The Doppler precision is between 3-25 m/s depending on the star magnitude. We also report a new planet detected with a prototype single object version ET instrument at the KPNO Coude Feed/2.1 m telescopes. The extrasolar planet, ET-1 (HD 102195b), has a minimum mass of 0.49 Jupiter masses and orbits a V = 8.1 G8V star with a 4.1 day period. The planet was identified using the Coude Feed 0.9 meter telescope in spring 2005. This is the first time an extrasolar planet around a star fainter than V=8 magnitude has been discovered with an under 1 meter size astronomical telescope and Doppler instrument. This planet discovery is possible due to the extremely high throughput of the instrument, 49% measured from the fiber output end to the detector.

We report on the science case high level specifications for a wide field spectrograph instrument for an Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) and present possible concepts. Preliminary designs are presented which resort to different instrument concepts: monolithic integral field (IFU), multi-IFU, and a smart tunable filter. This work is part of the activities performed in the work package 'Instrumentation' of the 'ELT Design Study', a programme supported by the European Community, Framework Programme 6.

Direct exoplanet detections are limited by the speckle noise of the point spread function (PSF). This noise can be reduced by subtracting PSF images obtained simultaneously in adjacent narrow spectral bands using a multichannel camera (MCC). Experiments have shown that speckle attenuation performances are severely degraded by differential optical aberrations between channels that decorrelate the PSFs of the different spectral bands. We present a new technique which can greatly alleviate this problem: the introduction of a holographic diffuser at the focal plane of the MCC. The holographic diffuser converts the PSF image into an incoherent illumination scene that is then re-imaged with the MCC. This imaging process is equivalent to a convolution of the scene with the PSF of each channel of the MCC. The optical aberrations in the MCC then affect only the convolution kernel of each channel and not the PSF globally, resulting in more correlated images. We report laboratory measurements with a dual channel prototype (1.575 μm and 1.625 μm) to validate this approach. We achieved a speckle noise suppression factor of 12-14, which is ~4-6 times better than what has been achieved by existing MCCs.

We present the preliminary optical and optomechanical design of a high throughput, fiber spectrograph for the Gemini/Subaru Wide-Field, Fiber-Fed, Multi-Object Spectrograph (WFMOS) designed with the principle goal of studying the nature of dark energy via enormous high-redshift spectroscopic surveys. Developed from an original Sloan Digital Sky Survey design this multi-object spectrograph utilizes all-refractive cameras, volume phase holographic gratings, and state-of-the-art CCD detectors to produce a peak instrument throughput of ~ 70%. The instrument produces 292 spectra simultaneously in two channels covering the bandpass 390 < λ < 1000 nm with a mean spectral resolution, λ/FWHM, of R ~ 1700. WFMOS will employ approximately ten of these fiber spectrographs on an 8 m class telescope to capture nearly 3000 spectra simultaneously. When used in a nod & shuffle mode of operation these spectrographs will facilitate spectroscopy of faint 0.5 < z < 3.5 galaxies with unprecedented efficiency.

We present the design of, and the science drivers for, the Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph (VIRUS). This instrument is made up of 145 individually small and simple spectrographs, each fed by a fiber integral field unit. The total VIRUS-145 instrument covers ~30 sq. arcminutes per observation, providing integral field spectroscopy from 340 to 570 nm, simultaneously, of 35,670 spatial elements, each 1 sq. arcsecond on the sky. This corresponds to 15 million resolution elements per exposure. VIRUS-145 will be mounted on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and fed by a new wide-field corrector with 22 arcminutes diameter field of view. VIRUS represents a new approach to spectrograph design, offering the science multiplex advantage of huge sky coverage for an integral field spectrograph, coupled with the engineering multiplex advantage of >100 spectrographs making up a whole. VIRUS is designed for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) which will use baryonic acoustic oscillations imprinted on the large-scale distribution of Lyman-α emitting galaxies to provide unique constraints on the expansion history of the universe that can constrain the properties of dark energy.

We present the Data Reduction Software (DRS) being developed at APC, Paris Observatory, Amsterdam University and ESO for the X-shooter echelle spectrograph. X-shooter is the first VLT second generation instrument, expected to be operational in 2008. The DRS will be fully integrated in the ESO VLT system and it will use the ESO Common Pipeline Library. We discuss the data reduction related to slit and IFU observations. X-shooter data have two main characteristics, on the one hand the exceptionally wide band (0.3-2.4 μm) covered in a single exposure, and on the other hand the spectral format with highly curved orders and tilted lines. The reduction process is described and the critical issues related to the above characteristics, notably the sky subtraction, the optimal extraction, and the construction of 1D/2D/3D output products, are addressed. Some aspects of the spectrophotometric calibration are also discussed.

HERMES is a high-resolution fiber-fed echelle spectrograph combining high throughput with high instrumental stability. The optical design is based on a large R2.7 echelle grating, operating in quasi-Littrow and white-pupil configuration, using a double-prism cross-disperser. It records the complete spectrum from 380 to 900 nm in a single exposure on a monolithic 2kx4.5k pixels CCD. HERMES offers 1) a high-resolution and high-efficiency observation mode through a 80-μm optical fiber (2.5 arcsec sky aperture) equipped with a two-slice image slicer, resulting in a resolution of λ/Δλ = 85000 and a peak-efficiency higher than 25%; and 2) a high-stability mode through a 60-μm fiber (2.15 arcsec sky aperture, R = 55000) equipped with a double fiber scrambler for improved spectrograph illumination stability. The latter mode is intended for high-precision radial velocity measurements and it offers the possibility of recording the spectrum of a wavelength calibration lamp simultaneously and interlaced with the stellar spectrum for precise tracking of instrumental drifts. To optimize instrumental stability, the spectrograph will be housed in a temperature and pressure controlled chamber, and it will operate in one fixed optical configuration. This instrument has a wide astronomical scope, going from asteroseismology to binary star research and chemical studies of stars and circumstellar material. HERMES is currently under construction and will be mounted on the 1.2-meter Mercator Telescope at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma.

The Simultaneous Infrared-Visible Imager/Spectrograph (SIRVIS) is a planned multi-purpose instrument for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory 2.4 m telescope located west of Socorro, NM. The primary science drivers are asteroid studies, the rapid response to astrophysical transient phenomena and observations of artificial targets such as satellites. For asteroid science, the wavelength range 0.39-2.5 μm gives the most mineralogically diagnostic information on surface compositions using standard filters and low-resolution, R ~ 200, spectroscopy. For transients, the telescope's rapid 10°/second slew rate will facilitate acquisition of data on any target within one minute of receipt of notice. For artificial targets, simultaneous two-color imaging will assist in unique determinations and overall condition monitoring. SIRVIS has two channels, a cryogenic NIR channel covering 0.85-2.5 μm at 0.27 arcsec/pixel, and an ambient temperature-pressure visible channel covering 0.39-1.0 μm at 0.15 arcsec/pixel. The beam is split by a cryogenic, red-pass dichroic mirror located between the telescope focal plane and the respective collimators. Both channels use refractive optics. The instrument is being designed to initially phase in the visible channel, then the NIR channel, and readily accommodate upgrades. For sky subtraction, the telescope is nodded between 30-60 second NIR integrations. Long visible integrations are made possible by shifting the CCD charge in sync with the nod.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO), the Space Telescope European Co-ordinating Facility (ST-ECF), and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are collaborating to study Th-Ar hollow cathode lamps as used for the calibration of VLT (Very Large Telescope) spectrographs. In the near IR only a limited number of wavelength standards are available. The density and distribution of lines in Ne or Kr lamps, for example, are inadequate for high-resolution spectroscopy. Th-Ar hollow cathode lamps provide a rich spectrum in the UV-visible region and have been used in astronomy for a long time; current examples at ESO include the spectrographs UVES and FLAMES. The Th spectrum from 278 nm to about 1000 nm was studied at high resolution about 20 years ago (Palmer and Engleman, 1983). Two studies of the Th-Ar spectrum in the near IR have recently been published, but neither work is directly applicable to the calibration of IR astronomical spectrographs at ESO. We report new measurements using the 2-m UV/visible/IR Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) at NIST that establish more than 2000 lines as wavelength standards in the range 900 nm to 4500 nm. This line list is used as input for a physical model that provides the wavelength calibration for the Cryogenic High-Resolution IR Echelle Spectrometer (CRIRES), ESO's new high resolution (R~100,000) IR spectrograph at the VLT. We also present first calibration results from laboratory testing of CRIRES. The newly established wavelength standards will also be available for use by X-shooter and other spectrographs in the future. Measurements of the variation of the spectrum of Th-Ar lamps as a function of operating current allow us to optimise the spectral output in terms of relative intensity and line density for operation on the telescope. Since Th and Ar line intensities show a different response with respect to operating current, such measurements can be used as a diagnostic tool for distinguishing the gas and metal lines. Our findings show that Th-Ar lamps hold the promise of becoming a standard source for wavelength calibration in near IR astronomy.

Externally Dispersed Interferometry (EDI) is the series combination of a fixed-delay field-widened Michelson interferometer with a dispersive spectrograph. This combination boosts the spectrograph performance for both Doppler velocimetry and high resolution spectroscopy. The interferometer creates a periodic comb that multiplies against the input spectrum to create moire fringes, which are recorded in combination with the regular spectrum. Both regular and high-frequency spectral components can be recovered from the data - the moire component carries additional information that increases the signal to noise for velocimetry and spectroscopy. Here we present simulations and theoretical studies of the photon limited Doppler velocity noise in an EDI. We used a model spectrum of a 1600K temperature star. For several rotational blurring velocities 0, 7.5, 15 and 25 km/s we calculated the dimensionless Doppler quality index (Q) versus wavenumber ν. This is the normalized RMS of the derivative of the spectrum and is proporotional to the photon-limited Doppler signal to noise ratio.

In the last two years, the use of FORS 1 (FOcal Reducer low dispersion Spectrograph with polarimetric capability), mounted on the 8-m Kueyen telescope, led to a number of important advances in the studies of stellar magnetic fields. At the very beginning of these studies only the grism 600B was used with FORS 1 in polarimetric mode, providing the possibility to obtain both Stokes I and Stokes V as a function of wavelength in a spectral region from below the Balmer jump to Hβ. However, very useful circular polarimetry has also been obtained with grisms 600R, 1200G, and, very recently, with the grism 600I, which allows to study both the Ca II infrared triplet lines and the hydrogen Paschen lines. We describe here the recent scientific results achieved for studies of stellar magnetic fields using different FORS 1 instrumental settings.

Previous studies of strongly magnetic stars with spectral lines resolved into their magnetically split components showed for some stars systematic differences in the mean field modulus values determined from high resolution spectra obtained with different spectrographs at different observatories. It is suspected that they result from modification of the linear polarisation of the spectral lines of the star by the optical train. Since this polarisation varies from star to star, the resulting effect also differs from one star to the next. As high resolution spectra obtained with the Ultraviolet and Visible Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) at the ESO VLT are nowadays used for the measurement of stellar surface magnetic fields, we recently conducted a study of the UVES instrumental polarisation. For this purpose, we carried out a large number of measurements of magnetically split Zeeman components in the spectra of magnetic stars taken with various instrumental settings using different dichroics, the highest resolution image slicer and the depolarizer. Our measurements show no evidence for the presence of a UVES instrumental polarisation.

The purpose of the recent installation of eight interference filters in UVES is to isolate certain echelle orders to allow the use of a maximal slit length of 30". The typical decker height of the spectrograph slit for science operations is usually of the order of 10-12". The central wavelength of each filter was chosen to permit observations of the most important emission lines in extended objects. We discuss the performance of these filters and show the first science images obtained with the test run.

A fiber feed system has been developed to allow a new generation multiple object Doppler instrument, called the WM Keck Exoplanet Tracker, simultaneously tracking 59 stars for high precision radial velocity measurements for planet detection, and switching among over 500 targets per night. The system includes 27 plug fiber bundles and 3 instrument fiber bundles, and each fiber bundle includes 22 fibers. Individual fibers of a plug fiber bundle are plugged to a plate to receive star lights, and then they are grouped together to form a compact 22-fiber connector. An instrument fiber bundle with a matching fiber bundle connector can connect and disconnect with the plug fiber bundle. The 45 m long instrument fiber bundles deliver the light from the telescope to an environment controlled instrument room in distance. We characterizes the light loses including the position and pointing error of plug connectors, the fiber end reflection, fiber misalignment at the mating connectors, focal ratio degradation and fiber absorption through the long fiber link. All fiber bundles are tested and average total throughput of 61% is achieved.

This paper describes an optical spectrograph design for the W.M. Keck Exoplanet Tracker (ET) multi-object Doppler radial velocity instrument. The Keck ET is currently installed at the Sloan 2.5m telescope (Ge et al. this proceedings), and is capable of simultaneously monitoring 60 stars with high precision for a planet survey. The spectrograph consists of an entrance slit, collimator optics, a Volume Phase Holographic (VPH) grating, camera optics and a 4kx4k CCD camera, and provides a spectral resolution of R =5000, with a 180 mm diameter collimated beam. The collimator and camera optics (300 mm largest diameter) are made of two standard optical grade glasses: BK7 and F2, respectively. The spectrograph is transmissive and optimized for delivering high throughput and high image quality over the entire operation bandwidth: 500-590 nm. The f/4 input beams from the Keck ET interferometer are converted to f/1.5 beams on the detector by this spectrograph, and form 60 stellar fringe spectra.

One of the highlights of the European ELT Science Case book is the study of resolved stellar populations, potentially out to the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. A European ELT would enable such studies in a wide range of unexplored, distant environments, in terms of both galaxy morphology and metallicity. As part of a small study, a revised science case has been used to shape the conceptual design of a multi-object, multi-field spectrometer and imager (MOMSI). Here we present an overview of some key science drivers, and how to achieve these with elements such as multiplex, AO-correction, pick-off technology and spectral resolution.

BESO (Bochum Echelle Spectrograph for OCA) is a high-resolution echelle spectrograph which is built by the Ruhr-Universitaet, Bochum and the Landessternwarte Heidelberg. It will be operated with the 1.5m Hexapod-Telescope at the Observatorio Cerro Armazones (OCA), Chile - the new observatory of the Ruhr-Universitaet and the Universidad Catolica del Norte in Antofagasta. The site at 2800m altitude is located 30 km east of Paranal and provides superb observing conditions. BESO is fiber-coupled to the Hexapod-Telescope, covers a spectral range of 370 to 840nm with a resolution of 48,000. Instrument controls are embedded in the ALMA Common Software environment. The spectrograph is part of a monitoring project that studies the variability of young stars and AGN.

The overall optical design of X-Shooter, the second generation, wide band, intermediate resolution, high efficiency, three-arms spectrograph for the VLT, is presented. We focus on the optical design of the three optimized arms, covering UVB (300-550 nm), VIS (550-1000 nm), and NIR (1000-2300 nm) wavelength ranges, including spectrographs and pre-slit optics. All spectrographs share the same original "4C" concept (Collimator Correction of Camera Chromatism). We describe also the auxiliary optics, such as dichroics, acquisition and guiding unit. Performances analysis are summarized.

SPHERE is an instrument designed and built by a consortium of French, German, Italian, Swiss and Dutch institutes in collaboration with ESO. The project is currently in its Phase B. The main goal of SPHERE is to gain at least one order of magnitude with respect to the present VLT AO facility (NACO) in the direct detection of faint objects very close to a bright star, especially giant extrasolar planets. Apart from a high Strehl ratio, the instrument will be designed to reduce the scattered light of the central bright star and subtract the residual speckle halo. Sophisticated post-AO capabilities are needed to provide maximum detectivity and possibly physical data on the putative planets. The Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS), one of the three scientific channels foreseen in the SPHERE design, is a very low resolution spectrograph (R~20) which works in the near IR (0.95-1.35 μm), an ideal wavelength range for the ground based detection of planetary features. Its goal is to suppress speckle to a contrast of 10⁷, with a goal of 10⁸, and at the same time provide spectral information in a field of view of about 1.5 × 1.5 arcsecs² in proximity of the target star. In this paper we describe the overall IFS design concept.

X-shooter is a second generation VLT instrument currently under construction by a Consortium of Institutes from Denmark, Italy, The Netherlands, France and ESO. X-shooter is designed to acquire intermediate (5000-10000) resolution spectra of single objects in an unprecedented wide wavelength coverage (320-2500 nm). In order to maximize efficiency the beam is divided into 3 arms (UV, VIS and NIR) by a system of dichroics. X-shooter is designed for the Cassegrain focus of one VLT unit. The mechanical assembly has to provide specific solutions to maintain 3 arms within the strict tolerances required by the intermediate resolution, during the typical motions of the Cassegrain focal station. It must as well ensure the permanent co-alignment of the 3 slits and the stability of the spectral format on the focal plane of each arm, allowing long intervals between calibration exposures. The above requirements have been met via an innovative mechanical design merging passive stiffness and active control to obtain a light, accessible and functional assembly. This paper gives a description of the X-shooter mechanical assembly with main emphasis on the common "backbone" structure and the UV- and VIS spectrograph arms.

We have completed a conceptual design study of the High Resolution Optical Spectrograph for the Thirty Meter Telescope project. We propose the use of a fiber fed integral field unit and a dichroic tree to achieve R=100,000 spectroscopy from 310 to 1100 nm independent of AO performance. The system relies on the dichroic tree to provide coarse wavelength selection, and 32 first order spectro-graph benches. This approach allows for simultaneous optimization of grating and detector performance for all wavelengths, resulting in high efficiency, near uniform dispersion, and reduced program risk and cost due to the high degree of component commonality. We present projected performance and design details.

The Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph is being constructed for use at the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Its primary scientific objective is the detection of extrasolar planets through monitoring of stellar radial velocity variations. The spectrograph is being optimized for high precision measurement of these velocities with a resolution goal of 1 m s^-1. The optical design includes all spherical, standard optical glass and calcium fluoride lenses that function as both camera and collimator in a double-pass configuration. A prism cross-disperser is also used in double-pass and provides a minimum order separation of 4.0 arcsec. An R4 echelle grating is illuminated near true Littrow and provides complete wavelength coverage between 390 nm and 620 nm. Spectral resolution is 38,000 when using a 1 arcsec slit, although slit widths as small as 0.2 arcsec are available. An iodine cell is used to superimpose well-defined absorption features onto spectra to serve as a fiducial wavelength scale, and a thorium argon lamp is available for traditional wavelength calibrations. The spectrograph is currently under construction and is scheduled for commissioning in the second quarter of 2007.

WFOS (Wide Field Optical Spectrograph) is a multi-object spectrograph for the TMT (Thirty Meter Telescope) project. A ten month WFOS feasibility study has been undertaken and the resulting optical design is presented. The instrument concept is a multi-barrel approach, comprising four identical instruments placed about the optical axis. A novel off-axis collimator has been utilized with catadioptric cameras. Minimizing fabrication risk has been central to the design, with aspheric surfaces and exotic materials being avoided where possible. The field sizes of the barrels and grating sizes were selected based on optical element manufacturability and dispersion element diffraction efficiency.

X-shooter is a single target spectrograph for the Cassegrain focus of one of the VLT UTs where it will start to operate in 2008. The instrument covers in a single exposure the spectral range from the UV to the K' band. It is designed to maximize the sensitivity in this spectral range through the splitting in three arms with optimized optics, coatings, dispersive elements and detectors. It operates at intermediate resolutions (R=4000-14000, depending on wavelength and slit width) with fixed echelle spectral format (with prism cross-dispersers) in the three arms. The project has completed the Final Design Review in June 2006. In this status report, the overall concept is summarized and new results on the dichroics, the active flexure compensation system, the operation modes and the expected performance are given. The instrument is being built by a Consortium of Institutes from Denmark, France, Italy and the Netherlands in collaboration with ESO. When in operation, its wide spectral range observing capability will be unique at very large telescopes.

We report on the design, development and commissioning of an Integral Field Unit (IFU) that has been built for the Echellette Spectrograph and Imager (ESI) at the W.M. Keck Observatory. This image slicer-based IFU, which was commissioned in the spring of 2004 covers a contiguous field of 5.65 x 4.0 arcseconds in 5 slices that are 1.13 arcseconds wide. The IFU passes a spectral range of 0.39-1.1 um with a throughput of between 45% and 60% depending on wavelength and field position. The IFU head resides in an ESI slit mask holder, so that ESI may be converted to the IFU mode remotely by selecting the appropriate slit mask position. This IFU is the first of a family of designs for the spectrograph, providing a range of field-coverages and dispersions.

We describe a five element corrector for the prime focus of the 4 meter Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile that will be used in conjunction with a new mosaic CCD camera as part of the proposed Dark Energy Survey (DES). The corrector is designed to provide a flat focal plane and good images in the SDSS g, r, i, and z filters. We describe the performance in conjunction with the scientific requirements of the DES, particularly with regard to ghosting and weak-lensing point spread function (PSF) calibration.

This paper constructed two protecting methods of diminishing the collision during the opposite movement of the adjoining fiber unit in the LAMOST Positioning System. Auto-positioning mode is applied to every fiber positioning unit of LAMOST Positioning System. The observing region is a circular region with the diameter of 33 mm. To ensure the whole focal plane is covered by the observing region of 4000 fiber units, there must be superposition of observing region of each adjoining fiber units, which induced the collision of adjoining fiber holder in the movement process and resulted in the failing of orientation and mangling of structure. The mode of avoiding the collision comprises two methods. One is hard protected mode, according to this method sensors are installed at each fiber positioning unit, then the motion of the fiber units will be stopped immediately when the adjoining fiber units close to a dangerous distance. The other is soft protected mode, which deliberates every situation of software from the observation programming to the motion path designing for avoiding the collision. This paper expounds the designing and achievement of these two methods mentioned formally.

Fiber Positioning System of LAMOST focal plane based on subarea thinking, adopts a parallel controllable positioning plan, the structure is designed as a round area and overlapped each other in order to eliminate the un-observation region. But it also makes the observation efficiency of the system become an important problem. In this paper According to the system, the model of LAMOST focal plane Observation Planning including 4000 fiber positioning units is built, Stars are allocated using netflow algorithm and mechanical collisions are diminished through the retreat algorithm, then the simulation of the system's observation efficiency is carried out. The problem of observation efficiency of LAMOST focal plane is analysed systemic and all-sided from the aspect of overlapped region, fiber positioning units, observation radius, collisions and so on. The observation efficiency of the system in theory is describes and the simulation indicates that the system's observation efficiency is acceptable. The analyses play an indicative role on the design of the LAMOST focal plane structure.