This paper describes the performance of NIRSPEC, the cryogenic cross-dispersed IR echelle spectrograph for the Keck II telescope on Mauna Kea. NIRSPEC employs a 1024 by 1024 InSb array, diamond-machined metal optics and closed- cycle refrigeration on achieve high throughput and low backgrounds. The instrument operates directly at the f/15 Nasmyth focus, but can also be used in conjunction with the Keck adaptive optics system. First Light was obtained on April 25, 1999. As expected, the performance is detector- limited at short wavelengths and background-limited at longer wavelengths. All of the design goals have been met and result illustrating the optical performance and sensitivity are reported.

Date Published: 16 August 2000
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 4008, Optical and IR Telescope Instrumentation and Detectors, (16 August 2000);

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4008:
Optical and IR Telescope Instrumentation and Detectors
Masanori Iye; Alan F. M. Moorwood, Editor(s)