WEAVE is the next-generation wide-field optical spectroscopy facility for the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. WEAVE mainly aims at spectroscopic follow-up of ground-based (e.g. LOFAR) and space-based (GAIA) surveys. The facility consists of a new 2-degree field-of-view prime focus corrector with a 1000- multiplex fibre positioner, a small number of individually deployable integral field units, and a large single integral field unit. The IFUs (Integral Field Units) and the MOS fibres can be used to feed a dual-beam spectrograph that will provide full coverage of the majority of the visible spectrum in a single exposure at a spectral resolution of ~5000 or modest wavelength coverage in both arms at a resolution ~20000. The instrument is expected to be on-sky by 2017 to provide spectroscopic sampling of the fainter end of the Gaia astrometric catalogue, chemical labeling of stars to V~17, and dedicated follow up of substantial numbers of sources from the medium deep LOFAR surveys. After a brief description of the MOS fibre bundle, we described the proposed test plan and the test bench of the 2x1000 WEAVE MOS fibres. The test bench allows us to evaluate the Focal Ratio Degradation and the throughput of the fibers fitted with their buttons and slitlets.

Date Published: 18 July 2014
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 9151, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation, 91515Y (18 July 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2056285

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9151:
Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation
Ramón Navarro; Colin R. Cunningham; Allison A. Barto, Editor(s)