Paper 13100-28
Paper 13100-28
MOONS – Multi object spectroscopy for the VLT: testing and integration of the MOONS metrology system
17 June 2024 • 11:45 - 12:00 Japan Standard Time | Room G214, North - 2F
Abstract
MOONS is the Multi-Object Optical and Near-IR Spectrograph for ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The instrument will use ~1000 optical fibres which can be individually aligned to on-sky targets across a field of view of ~500 square arcmin. Each fibre is positioned using a dual arm theta-phi fibre positioning unit (FPU). The MOONS metrology system must be able to simultaneously measure the position of each fibre to a high accuracy (~15 micrometres) as well as measuring the orientation of the FPU arms. In this paper, we present a description of photogrammetry-based metrology system design and its implementation in the instrument. We also report on the integration, testing, and performance of the system within the instrument.
Presenter
Ciaran Breen
UK Astronomy Technology Ctr. (United Kingdom)
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree physics and astrophysics, I joined the UK Astronomy Technology Centre as a Project Scientist in 2021. My role focuses on instrument testing, validation and calibration and combines hands-on work with instrument hardware along with data analysis and visualisation. As a project scientist, I work in large scale, international collaborations which deliver major astronomy instrumentation projects. I am currently working on the Multi-Object Optical and Near-IR Spectrograph (MOONS), the next generation spectrograph for the Very Large Telescope (VLT). I have also supported ongoing instrumentation technology research, particularly focusing on the development of testing procedures and equipment for characterising outgassing properties of material under vacuum for space-based applications.