4MOST spectroscopic instrument

Lead Research Organisation: University College London
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

The 4-metre Multi-Object Spectrograph Telescope (4MOST) instrument is a fibre fed multi-object spectrograph for the VISTA telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory in Chile. The instrument will record 2400 simultaneous spectra over a >2.5 degree field of view. First light for the instrument is planned for 2022.
4MOST consists of a prime focus optical wide field corrector (WFC) consisting of 4 lenses, 2 of which are doublets that act as an atmospheric dispersion corrector. The WFC feeds a fibre positioner unit based on a tilting spine design.
The instrument is being built by the 4MOST consortium which consists of 15 institutes in Germany, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK, under leadership of the Leibniz-Institut fur Astrophysik, Potsdam (AIP).
UCL has a major role in the construction of the 4MOST instrument. UCL has responsibility for aspects of the optical corrector mechanical design, procurement and assembly. The corrector optics for the instrument consists of four large lenses (two of which are doublets) that will be mounted and aligned at UCL before being shipped to the telescope in 2020. In order for the instrument to fulfil its mission each of these lenses need to be aligned to ~0.1mm - a major challenge.
The project is offered that will involve the student in the optical testing, assembly, alignment and observatory installation of the 4MOST corrector optics.

Publications

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Cunningham M (2023) Assembly and alignment of the 4-metre multi-object spectroscopic telescope wide field corrector in Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems

Studentship Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Student Name
ST/S505791/1 30/09/2018 29/09/2022
2418967 Studentship ST/S505791/1 27/09/2020 27/03/2024 Mark Cunningham
ST/V507167/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024
2418967 Studentship ST/V507167/1 27/09/2020 27/03/2024 Mark Cunningham