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WIFIS

The Wide Integral-Field Infrared Spectrograph, or WIFIS, is a unique near-infrared integral-field spectrograph with an exceptionally wide field.

It achieved first light on the 2.3-metre Bok telescope at the Steward Observatory in Arizona in 2017. Currently existing near-infrared integral-field spectrographs (IFS) typically have very narrow fields of view (FOV) because they are optimized for observations of high-redshift galaxies, which are relatively small in size. By comparison, WIFIS has a 50″ x 20″ FOV.

WIFIS has the unique capability to observe very extended objects in the near-infrared and has an etendue that is comparable to wide-field, optical IFS. Therefore, WIFIS science will be highly complementary to programs carried out by optical IFS, such as CALIFA, SAMI and MaNGA surveys.

WIFIS science includes:

  • Nature of star formation within our galaxy
  • Abundance distributions and kinematics of supernovae ejecta
  • Stellar populations of early-type galaxies
  • Large scale kinematics of low-redshift galaxies
  • Kinematics and star formation of merging galaxies

At the University of Toronto, the team working on WIFIS includes Prof. Dae-Sik Moon (PI), Prof. Suresh Sivanandam (Project/Instrument Scientist), Dr. Richard Chou, and graduate students Mark Ma, Elliot Meyer, Miranda Jarvis, Bryn Orth-Lashley, and Max Millar-Blanchaer.

Collaborating institutions include the University of Arizona (Prof. Josh Eisner), Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute, University of Florida.

For more details regarding sensitivity, optical design and current status, visit Prof. Sivanandam’s WIFIS page.

References:

The wide integral field infrared spectrograph: commissioning results and on-sky performance – Sivanandam, S. et al. 2018.

The development of WIFIS: a wide integral field infrared spectrograph – Sivanandam, S. et al. 2012, Proc. SPIE

The optical design of wide integral field infrared spectrograph – Chou, R. C. Y. et al. 2010, Proc. SPIE

FISICA: the Florida imager slicer for infrared cosmology and astrophysics – Eikenberry, S. et al. 2006, Proc. SPIE

WIFIS_ngc2623v2_600px

A simulated WIFIS observation of a merging galaxy system. The full WIFIS field is shown with the largest red rectangle. The full field is 50″x20″. The smallest rectangles represent each individual slice of the integral field. The width of each slice is 1.1″.

 

Meyer WIFIS_2294_1200px

PhD candidate Elliot Meyer working on a collimator lens assembly for WIFIS.