1. SOFIA-HIRMES: Looking Forward to the HIgh-Resolution Mid-infrarEd Spectrometer
- Author
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Gary J. Melnick, James Hays-Wehle, Matthew A. Greenhouse, Stefan W. Rosner, Chuck Engler, Gordon J. Stacey, Chuck Henderson, Karwan Rostem, Vilem Mikula, Wen-Ting Hsieh, Stuart Banks, Regis P. Brekosky, Mark O. Kimball, Jeffrey Huang, Pasquale Temi, William D. Vacca, Klaus M. Pontoppidan, Ari-David Brown, Felipe Colazo, Timothy M. Miller, Samuel H. Moseley, Edward J. Wollack, Shannon Wilks, Tony Cazeau, S. Maher, Iver Jenstrom, Naseem Rangwala, Nancy Rustemeyer, Thomas Nikola, Richard G. Arendt, Peter Taraschi, Robert E. McMurray, Jordi Vila Hernandez de Lorenzo, Michael Choi, Attila Kovács, Hristo Atanasoff, Steve Leiter, Alan Rhodes, Theodore Hadjimichael, Leroy Sparr, B. Wohler, Samuel N. Richards, Berhanu Bulcha, Jim Kellogg, Dejan Stevanovic, Aki Roberge, Elmer Sharp, Eric Mentzell, Joseph Oxborrow, Peter Nagler, and Alexander Kutyrev
- Subjects
Spectrometer ,Infrared ,Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy ,Instrumentation ,Mid infrared ,Astronomy ,High resolution ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,01 natural sciences ,0103 physical sciences ,Environmental science ,010306 general physics ,Spectroscopy ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics - Abstract
The HIgh-Resolution Mid-infrarEd Spectrometer (HIRMES) is the 3rd Generation Instrument for the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), currently in development at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), and due for commissioning in 2019. By combining direct-detection Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometer arrays, grating-dispersive spectroscopy, and a host of Fabry-Perot tunable filters, HIRMES will provide the ability for high resolution ([Formula: see text]), mid-resolution ([Formula: see text]), and low-resolution ([Formula: see text]) slit-spectroscopy, and 2D Spectral Imaging ([Formula: see text] at selected wavelengths) over the 25–122[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m mid to far infrared waveband. The driving science application is the evolution of proto-planetary systems via measurements of water-vapor, water-ice, deuterated hydrogen (HD), and neutral oxygen lines. However, HIRMES has been designed to be as flexible as possible to cover a wide range of science cases that fall within its phase-space, all whilst reaching sensitivities and observing powers not yet seen thus far on SOFIA, providing unique observing capabilities which will remain unmatched for decades.
- Published
- 2018