We describe recent progress in the development of a lab-based spatial/spectral double Fourier interferometer within the Astronomical Instrumentation Group (AIG) laboratories at the University of Lethbridge, Canada (UL). This testbed interferometer is used in the development of spatial/spectral interferometry observation, data processing, characterization, and analysis techniques in the Far-Infrared (FIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Several interferometry technological development milestones on the FIR astrophysics roadmap are addressed by this ongoing research program of the UL AIG, all of which are needed as precursors to an eventual space-based FIR interferometry mission. This research program is supported by recent CRC, CFI, and NSERC grants.

Date Published: 2 August 2014
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 9143, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 91434G (2 August 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2055208

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9143:
Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave
Jacobus M. Oschmann Jr.; Mark Clampin; Giovanni G. Fazio; Howard A. MacEwen, Editor(s)