CaltechAUTHORS
Published December 16, 2020 | Version Submitted
Discussion Paper Open

Update on the Preliminary Design of SCALES: the Santa Cruz Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy

Creators

Abstract

SCALES (Santa Cruz Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy) is a 2-5 micron high-contrast lenslet integral-field spectrograph (IFS) driven by exoplanet characterization science requirements and will operate at W. M. Keck Observatory. Its fully cryogenic optical train uses a custom silicon lenslet array, selectable coronagraphs, and dispersive prisms to carry out integral field spectroscopy over a 2.2 arcsec field of view at Keck with low (<300) spectral resolution. A small, dedicated section of the lenslet array feeds an image slicer module that allows for medium spectral resolution (5000−10000), which has not been available at the diffraction limit with a coronagraphic instrument before. Unlike previous IFS exoplanet instruments, SCALES is capable of characterizing cold exoplanet and brown dwarf atmospheres (<600 K) at bandpasses where these bodies emit most of their radiation while capturing relevant molecular spectral features.

Additional Information

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Heising-Simons Foundation through grant #2019-1697. UC Observatory engineers and staff have worked tirelessly through the COVID-19 pandemic and raging fires. The lead author wishes to acknowledge the Herculean effort on the part of frontline healthcare workers through the pandemic including his father, who serves as an ambulance driver.

Attached Files

Submitted - 2012.09098.pdf

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2012.09098.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
107866
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20210202-095305886

Related works

Describes
http://arxiv.org/abs/2012.09098 (URL)

Funding

Heising-Simons Foundation
2019-1697

Dates

Created
2021-02-03
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2023-06-02
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Astronomy Department