WEAVE Spectrograph Production started

© NOVA Optical IR Instrumentation Group, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING)

The picture shows a part for the WEAVE Spectrogaph. The mechanical production is started and this is one of the first part. It is a mechanical holder for a VPH (Volume Phased Hologram) Grating. A VPH-Grating acts like a prism, but exist of a flat plate with vertical lines and creates a large dispersion. The part is measured at our CMM and correct. Next step is a black coating.

The first VPH-Grating will be delivered by INAF (Italy) early next year. Also optics and electronics production is started and more pictures to come.

WEAVE is a new multi-object survey spectrograph for the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, on La Palma in the Canary Islands.

For more information see:

http://www.ing.iac.es/weave/index.html

http://www.astron.nl/dailyimage/main.php?date=20130319

http://www.astron.nl/dailyimage/main.php?date=20150414

The Spectrograph team is a collaboration between NOVA Optical IR Instrumentation Group at ASTRON (Optomechanical Design and Production, Management), RAL in the UK (Optical Design), JMU Liverpool in the UK (Detectors), IAC at Tenerife Spain (Control Hardware), ING at La Palma Spain (Control Software), INAF Italy (VPH Gratings and Control Software).

Dutch PI is Scott Trager, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, RUG.