Euclid. III. The NISP Instrument

Euclid Collaboration; Jahnke, K.; Gillard, W.; Schirmer, M.; Ealet, A.; Maciaszek, T.; Prieto, E.; Barbier, R.; Bonoli, C.; Corcione, L.; Dusini, S.; Grupp, F.; Hormuth, F.; Ligori, S.; Martin, L.; Morgante, G.; Padilla, C.; Toledo-Moreo, R.; Trifoglio, M.; Valenziano, L.; Bender, R.; Castander, F. J.; Garilli, B.; Lilje, P. B.; Rix, H.-W.; Andersen, M. I.; Auricchio, N.; Balestra, A.; Barriere, J.-C.; Battaglia, P.; Berthe, M.; Bodendorf, C.; Boenke, T.; Bon, W.; Bonnefoi, A.; Caillat, A.; Capobianco, V.; Carle, M.; Casas, R.; Cho, H.; Costille, A.; Ducret, F.; Ferriol, S.; Franceschi, E.; Gimenez, J.-L.; Holmes, W.; Hornstrup, A.; Jhabvala, M.; Kohley, R.; Kubik, B.; Laureijs, R.; Le Mignant, D.; Lloro, I.; Medinaceli, E.; Mellier, Y.; Polenta, G.; Racca, G. D.; Renzi, A.; Salvignol, J.-C.; Secroun, A.; Seidel, G.; Seiffert, M.; Sirignano, C.; Sirri, G.; Strada, P.; Smadja, G.; Stanco, L.; Wachter, S.; Anselmi, S.; Borsato, E.; Caillat, L.; Cogato, F.; Colodro-Conde, C.; Crouzet, P.-E.; Conforti, V.; D'Alessandro, M.; Copin, Y.; Cuillandre, J.-C.; Davies, J. E.; Davini, S.; Derosa, A.; Diaz, J. J.; Di Domizio, S.; Di Ferdinando, D.; Farinelli, R.; Ferrari, A. G.; Fornari, F.; Gabarra, L.; Garcia, R.; Gutierrez, C. M.; Giacomini, F.; Lagier, P.; Gianotti, F.; Krause, O.; Madrid, F.; Laudisio, F.; Macias-Perez, J.; Naletto, G.; Niclas, M.; Marpaud, J.; Mauri, N.; da Silva, R.; Passalacqua, F.; Paterson, K.; Patrizii, L.; Risso, I.; Solheim, B. G. B.; Scodeggio, M.; Stassi, P.; Steinwagner, J.; Tenti, M.; Testera, G.; Travaglini, R.; Tosi, S.; Troja, A.; Tubio, O.; Valieri, C.; Vescovi, C.; Ventura, S.; Aghanim, N.; Altieri, B.; Amara, A.; Amiaux, J.; Andreon, S.; Appleton, P. N.; Aussel, H.; Baccigalupi, C.; Baldi, M.; Bardelli, S.; Basset, A.; Bonchi, A.; Bonino, D.; Branchini, E.; Brescia, M.; Brinchmann, J.; Camera, S.; Carbone, C.; Cardone, V. F.; Carretero, J.; Casas, S.; Castellano, M.; Castignani, G.; Cavuoti, S.; Chabaud, P.-Y.; Cimatti, A.; Congedo, G.; Conselice, C. J.; Conversi, L.; Courbin, F.; Courtois, H. M.; Crocce, M.; Cropper, M.; Cuby, J.-G.; Da Silva, A.; Degaudenzi, H.; De Lucia, G.; Di Giorgio, A. M.; Dinis, J.; Douspis, M.; Dubath, F.; Duncan, C. A. J.; Dupac, X.; Fabricius, M.; Farina, M.; Farrens, S.; Faustini, F.; Fosalba, P.; Fotopoulou, S.; Fourmanoit, N.; Frailis, M.; Franzetti, P.; Galeotta, S.; George, K.; Gillis, B.; Giocoli, C.; Gómez-Alvarez, P.; Granett, B. R.; Grazian, A.; Guzzo, L.; Hailey, M.; Haugan, S. V. H.; Hoar, J.; Hoekstra, H.; Hook, I.; Hudelot, P.; Ilić, S.; Joachimi, B.; Keihänen, E.; Kermiche, S.; Kiessling, A.; Kilbinger, M.; Kitching, T.; Kümmel, M.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lahav, O.; Liebing, P.; Lindholm, V.; Lorenzo Alvarez, J.; Mainetti, G.; Maino, D.; Maiorano, E.; Mansutti, O.; Marcin, S.; Marggraf, O.; Markovic, K.; Martignac, J.; Martinelli, M.; Martinet, N.; Marulli, F.; Massey, R.; Masters, D. C.; Maurogordato, S.; McCracken, H. J.; Mei, S.; Melchior, M.; Meneghetti, M.; Merlin, E.; Meylan, G.; Mohr, J. J.; Moresco, M.; Morris, P. W.; Moscardini, L.; Nakajima, R.; Neissner, C.; Nichol, R. C.; Niemi, S.-M.; Nutma, T.; Paech, K.; Paltani, S.; Pasian, F.; Peacock, J. A.; Pedersen, K.; Percival, W. J.; Pettorino, V.; Pires, S.; Poncet, M.; Popa, L. A.; Pozzetti, L.; Raison, F.; Rebolo, R.; Refregier, A.; Rhodes, J.; Riccio, G.; Romelli, E.; Roncarelli, M.; Rosset, C.; Rossetti, E.; Rottgering, H. J. A.; Rusholme, B.; Saglia, R.; Sakr, Z.; Sánchez, A. G.; Sapone, D.; Sauvage, M.; Scaramella, R.; Schewtschenko, J. A.; Schneider, P.; Schrabback, T.; Sefusatti, E.; Serrano, S.; Tallada-Crespí, P.; Tavagnacco, D.; Taylor, A. N.; Teplitz, H. I.; Tereno, I.; Torradeflot, F.; Tutusaus, I.; Vassallo, T.; Verdoes Kleijn, G.; Veropalumbo, A.; Vibert, D.; Wang, Y.; Weller, J.; Zacchei, A.; Zamorani, G.; Zerbi, F. M.; Zoubian, J.; Zucca, E.; Biviano, A.; Bolzonella, M.; Boucaud, A.; Bozzo, E.; Burigana, C.; Calabrese, M.; Casenove, P.; Escartin Vigo, J. A.; Fabbian, G.; Finelli, F.; Gracia-Carpio, J.; Liu, C.; Pezzotta, A.; Pöntinen, M.; Porciani, C.; Scottez, V.; Viel, M.; Wiesmann, M.; Akrami, Y.; Allevato, V.; Aubourg, E.; Ballardini, M.; Bertacca, D.; Bethermin, M.; Blanchard, A.; Blot, L.; Borgani, S.; Borlaff, A. S.; Bruton, S.; Cabanac, R.; Calabro, A.; Calderone, G.; Canas-Herrera, G.; Cappi, A.; Carvalho, C. S.; Castro, T.; Chambers, K. C.; Charles, Y.; Chary, R.; Colbert, J.; Contarini, S.; Contini, T.; Cooray, A. R.; Costanzi, M.; Cucciati, O.; De Caro, B.; de la Torre, S.; Desprez, G.; Díaz-Sánchez, A.; Dole, H.; Escoffier, S.; Ferreira, P. G.; Ferrero, I.; Finoguenov, A.; Fontana, A.; Ganga, K.; García-Bellido, J.; Gautard, V.; Gaztanaga, E.; Gozaliasl, G.; Gregorio, A.; Hall, A.; Hartley, W. G.; Hemmati, S.; Hildebrandt, H.; Hjorth, J.; Hosseini, S.; Huertas-Company, M.; Ilbert, O.; Jacobson, J.; Jimenez Muñoz, A.; Joudaki, S.; Kajava, J. J. E.; Kansal, V.; Karagiannis, D.; Kirkpatrick, C. C.; Lacasa, F.; Le Brun, V.; Le Graet, J.; Legrand, L.; Libet, G.; Liu, S. J.; Loureiro, A.; Magliocchetti, M.; Mancini, C.; Mannucci, F.; Maoli, R.; Martins, C. J. A. P.; Matthew, S.; Maurin, L.; McPartland, C. J. R.; Metcalf, R. B.; Migliaccio, M.; Miluzio, M.; Monaco, P.; Moretti, C.; Nadathur, S.; Nicastro, L.; Walton, Nicholas A.; Odier, J.; Oguri, M.; Popa, V.; Potter, D.; Pourtsidou, A.; Rocci, P.-F.; Rollins, R. P.; Sahlén, M.; Scarlata, C.; Schaye, J.; Schneider, A.; Schultheis, M.; Sereno, M.; Shankar, F.; Shulevski, A.; Sikkema, G.; Silvestri, A.; Simon, P.; Spurio Mancini, A.; Stadel, J.; Stanford, S. A.; Tanidis, K.; Tao, C.; Tessore, N.; Teyssier, R.; Toft, S.; Tucci, M.; Valiviita, J.; Vergani, D.; Vernizzi, F.; Verza, G.; Vielzeuf, P.; Weaver, J. R.; Zalesky, L.; Zinchenko, I. A.; Archidiacono, M.; Atrio-Barandela, F.; Bennett, C. L.; Bouvard, T.; Caro, F.; Conseil, S.; Dimauro, P.; Duc, P.-A.; Fang, Y.; Ferguson, A. M. N.; Gasparetto, T.; Kovačić, I.; Kruk, S.; Le Brun, A. M. C.; Liaudat, T. I.; Montoro, A.; Mora, A.; Murray, C.; Pagano, L.; Paoletti, D.; Radovich, M.; Sarpa, E.; Tommasi, E.; Viitanen, A.; Lesgourgues, J.; Levi, M. E.; Martín-Fleitas, J.; Oppizzi, F.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202450786

Published May 2025 | Version Published

Journal Article Open

Euclid. III. The NISP Instrument

1. Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
2. Center for Particle Physics of Marseilles
3. Claude Bernard University Lyon 1
4. Centre National d'Études Spatiales
5. Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
6. Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova
7. Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino
8. INFN Sezione di Padova
9. Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
10. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
11. Felix Hormuth Engineering, Goethestr. 17, 69181, Leimen, Germany
12. INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 93/3, 40129, Bologna, Italy
13. Institute for High Energy Physics
14. Polytechnic University of Cartagena
15. INFN Sezione di Bologna
16. Institute of Space Sciences
17. Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya
18. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano
19. University of Oslo
20. University of Copenhagen
21. Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers
22. CEA-Saclay, DRF/IRFU, departement d'ingenierie des systemes, bat472, 91191, Gif sur Yvette cedex, France
23. University of Paris
24. European Space Research and Technology Centre
25. Jet Propulsion Lab
26. Technical University of Denmark
27. Goddard Space Flight Center
28. European Space Astronomy Centre
29. Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
30. Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
31. Sorbonne University
32. Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
33. University of Padua
34. Carnegie Observatories
35. University of Bologna
36. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
37. INFN Sezione di Genova
38. University of Genoa
39. University of Oxford
40. Grenoble Institute of Technology
41. INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, 00078, Monteporzio Catone, Italy
42. Clara Venture Labs AS, Fantoftvegen 38, 5072, Bergen, Norway
43. Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
44. University of Surrey
45. Brera Astronomical Observatory
46. Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
47. Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe
48. Trieste Astronomical Observatory
49. INFN Sezione di Trieste
50. International School for Advanced Studies
51. University of Naples Federico II
52. Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte
53. INFN Sezione di Napoli
54. University of Porto
55. University of Turin
56. INFN Sezione di Torino
57. INFN Sezione di Roma I
58. Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas
59. RWTH Aachen University
60. University of Edinburgh
61. University of Manchester
62. European Space Research Institute
63. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
64. UCB Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IUF, IP2I Lyon, 4 rue Enrico Fermi, 69622, Villeurbanne, France
65. University College London
66. Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope
67. University of Lisbon
68. University of Geneva
69. Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology
70. University of Bristol
71. FRACTAL S.L.N.E., calle Tulipán 2, Portal 13 1A, 28231, Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain
72. University of Milan
73. Leiden University
74. Lancaster University
75. Laboratoire de Physique des 2 Infinis Irène Joliot-Curie
76. Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology
77. University of Helsinki
78. Helsinki Institute of Physics
79. Centre de Calcul de l'IN2P3/CNRS, 21 avenue Pierre de Coubertin, 69627, Villeurbanne Cedex, France
80. INFN Sezione di Milano
81. University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
82. University of Bonn
83. Durham University
84. Lagrange Laboratory
85. Astroparticle and Cosmology Laboratory
86. California Institute of Technology
87. University of Groningen
88. Aarhus University
89. University of Waterloo
90. Perimeter Institute
91. Institute of Space Science
92. University of La Laguna
93. ETH Zurich
94. Heidelberg University
95. Université St Joseph; Faculty of Sciences, Beirut, Lebanon
96. University of Chile
97. Universität Innsbruck
98. Satlantis, University Science Park, Sede Bld, 48940, Leioa-Bilbao, Spain
99. National Institute for Astrophysics
100. Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley (OAVdA), Loc. Lignan 39, 11020, Nus (Aosta Valley), Italy
101. Cardiff University
102. Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY, 10010, USA
103. Groupe Institut supérieur d'agriculture de Lille
104. ICSC – Centro Nazionale di Ricerca in High Performance Computing, Big Data e Quantum Computing, Via Magnanelli 2, Bologna, Italy
105. Institute for Theoretical Physics
106. Case Western Reserve University
107. University of Ferrara
108. INFN Sezione di Ferrara
109. Observatory of Strasbourg
110. Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe
111. University of Trieste
112. Ames Research Center
113. Bay Area Environmental Research Institute
114. University of Minnesota
115. University of Hawaii at Manoa
116. University of California, Irvine
117. Saint Mary's University
118. CEA Saclay
119. University of Portsmouth
120. Aalto University
121. Ruhr University Bochum
122. Université PSL, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, LERMA, 75014, Paris, France
123. University of Turku
124. Serco for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692, Madrid, Spain
125. Swinburne University of Technology
126. Queen Mary University of London
127. University of the Western Cape
128. Université Libre de Bruxelles
129. ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research, Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
130. Stockholm University
131. Imperial College London
132. Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory
133. Sapienza University of Rome
134. University of Rome Tor Vergata
135. National Institute for Nuclear Physics
136. University of Cambridge
137. Chiba University
138. University of Zurich
139. Uppsala University
140. University of Southampton
141. University of Amsterdam
142. Royal Holloway University of London
143. University of California, Davis
144. Princeton University
145. L'Institut de physique théorique
146. New York University
147. University of Massachusetts System
148. University of Salamanca
149. Johns Hopkins University
150. Thales Services S.A.S., 290 Allée du Lac, 31670, Labège, France
151. National Observatory
152. Ghent University
153. Aurora Technology for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692, Madrid, Spain
154. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) on board the Euclid satellite provides multiband photometry and R ≳ 450 slitless grism spectroscopy in the 950–2020 nm wavelength range. In this reference article, we illuminate the background of NISP’s functional and calibration requirements, describe the instrument’s integral components, and provide all its key properties. We also sketch the processes needed to understand how NISP operates and is calibrated as well as its technical potentials and limitations. Links to articles providing more details and the technical background are included. The NISP’s 16 HAWAII-2RG (H2RG) detectors with a plate scale of 0″.3 pixel⁻¹ deliver a field of view of 0.57 deg². In photometric mode, NISP reaches a limiting magnitude of ~24.5 AB mag in three photometric exposures of about 100 s in exposure time for point sources and with a S/N of five. For spectroscopy, NISP’s pointsource sensitivity is a signal-to-noise ratio = 3.5 detection of an emission line with flux ~2 × 10⁻¹⁶ erg s⁻¹ cm⁻² integrated over two resolution elements of 13.4 Å in 3 × 560 s grism exposures at 1.6 µm (redshifted Hα). Our calibration includes on-ground and in-flight characterisation and monitoring of the pixel-based detector baseline, dark current, non-linearity, and sensitivity to guarantee a relative photometric accuracy better than 1.5% and a relative spectrophotometry better than 0.7%. The wavelength calibration must be accurate to 5 Å or better. The NISP is the state-of-the-art instrument in the near-infrared for all science beyond small areas available from HST and JWST – and it represents an enormous advance from any existing instrumentation due to its combination of field size and high throughput of telescope and instrument. During Euclid’s six-year survey covering 14 000 deg² of extragalactic sky, NISP will be the backbone in determining distances of more than a billion galaxies. Its near-infrared data will become a rich reference imaging and spectroscopy data set for the coming decades.

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© The Authors 2025. Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Acknowledgement

The Euclid Consortium acknowledges the European Space Agency and a number of agencies and institutes that have supported the development of Euclid, in particular the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, the Austrian Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft funded through BMK, the Belgian Science Policy, the Canadian Euclid Consortium, the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, the DTU Space and the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, the French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the Netherlandse Onderzoekschool Voor Astronomie, the Norwegian Space Agency, the Research Council of Finland, the Romanian Space Agency, the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI) at the Swiss Space Office (SSO), and the United Kingdom Space Agency. A complete and detailed list is available on the Euclid web site (http://www.euclid-ec.org).

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