Paper 13094-66
The Large Fiber Array Spectroscopic Telescope: status update of the prototype telescope
20 June 2024 • 14:00 - 14:20 Japan Standard Time | Room G403/404, North - 4F
Abstract
The Large Fiber Array Spectroscopic Telescope (LFAST) will provide a large, scalable collecting area, equivalent to or greater than other ELTs under construction, at a much reduced cost. LFAST will carry out scientific investigations that require spectroscopy with high-signal-to-noise or of faint objects. LFAST is an array telescope, combining light from hundreds of 0.76m diameter prime focus telescopes into a single fiber-fed spectrograph. Twenty telescopes will be mounted on a common alt-az mount, and we are currently constructing the first prototype twenty-unit system. In this talk we will present status and updates from the first 2.5 years of the LFAST project, and describe plans for large arrays, including a 200-unit system in the next few years and a 2,640 unit system in the future.
Presenter
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Dr. Chad Bender is an Associate Astronomer at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. He is Co-PI of the LFAST project. Before that, he served as Instrument Scientist for the HPF and NEID precision RV spectrometers. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Stony Brook University in 2006.