OCTOCAM: A fast multi-channel imager and spectrograph proposed for the Gemini Observatory

OCTOCAM has been proposed to the Gemini observatory as a workhorse imager and spectrograph that will fulfill the needs of a large number of research areas in the 2020s. It is based on the use of high-efficiency dichroics to split the incoming light in eight different channels, four optical and four infrared, each optimised for its wavelength range. In its imaging mode, it will simultaneously observe a field of 3'x3' in g, r, i, z, Y, J, H, and Ks bands. It will obtain long-slit spectroscopy covering the range between 3700 and 23500 Å with a resolution of 4000 and a slit length of 3 arcminutes. To avoid slit losses, the instrument will be equipped with an atmospheric dispersion corrector operating in the complete spectral range. Thanks to the use of state of the art detectors, OCTOCAM will allow high time-resolution observations and will have negligible overheads in the classical observing modes. It will be equipped with a unique integral field unit that will observe in the complete spectral range with an on-sky coverage of 9.7"x6.8". The integral field unit is based on an image slicer design composed by 17 slitlets, 0.4" wide each. Finally, a state-of-the-art polarimetric unit will allow full Stokes spectropolarimetry in the complete spectral range between 3700 and 22000 Å. In this presentation I will give an overview the design of the instrument and the most relevant science cases for this project. I will also discuss the role that the HETH group and the IAA may have in the future development of the project.

Date: 
17/03/2016 - 12:30
Speaker: 
Dr. Antonio de Ugarte
Filiation: 
IAA-CSIC


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