1. Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer: a dedicated single-mode fiber injection unit for high-resolution exoplanet spectroscopy
- Author
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Sylvain Cetre, Nick Suominen, Mark Chun, Randall Bartos, Benjamin Calvin, Tobias Schofield, Charlotte Z. Bond, Greg W. Doppmann, Nemanja Jovanovic, Daniel Echeverri, Michael P. Fitzgerald, Evan Morris, Peter Wizinowich, Sam Ragland, Jorge Llop Sayson, E. Wetherell, Chris Johnson, Jean-Baptiste Ruffio, Ronald Lopez, J. Kent Wallace, Scott Lilley, Dimitri Mawet, Jacklyn Pezzato, Ji M. Sohn, Andrew J. Skemer, Eric Wang, Kenneth G. Magnone, Emily C. Martin, Jacques-Robert Delorme, Jason J. Wang, and Garreth Ruane
- Subjects
Physics ,W. M. Keck Observatory ,business.industry ,Mechanical Engineering ,Single-mode optical fiber ,Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Exoplanet ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Radial velocity ,Optics ,Space and Planetary Science ,Control and Systems Engineering ,Planet ,Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics ,Spectral resolution ,Adaptive optics ,business ,Instrumentation ,Spectrograph - Abstract
The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) is a purpose-built instrument to demonstrate technological and instrumental concepts initially developed for the exoplanet direct imaging field. Located downstream of the current Keck II adaptive optic (AO) system, KPIC contains a fiber injection unit (FIU) capable of combining the high-contrast imaging capability of the AOs system with the high dispersion spectroscopy capability of the current Keck high resolution infrared spectrograph (NIRSPEC). Deployed at Keck in September 2018, this instrument has already been used to acquire high-resolution spectra (R > 30,000) of multiple targets of interest. In the near term, it will be used to spectrally characterize known directly imaged exoplanets and low-mass brown dwarf companions visible in the northern hemisphere with a spectral resolution high enough to enable spin and planetary radial velocity measurements as well as Doppler imaging of atmospheric weather phenomena. Here, we present the design of the FIU, the unique calibration procedures needed to operate a single-mode fiber instrument and the system performance.
- Published
- 2021