MOIRCS
Current Status of MOIRCS2011-08-03Due to the unavailability of the autoguider system (AG) on the Cassegrain Focus, caused by the telescope cooling system incident, the spectroscopic function of MOIRCS will not be available for observation at the moment. The imaging fuction of MOIRCS will also be limited to the open tracking operation (i.e., without the AG) only. The background-noise-limited performance may be difficult to achieve for some filters (such as NB119, Y, etc). The damage assessment is still ongoing, and repair plan of the Cassegrain AG is under examination. We apologize for the inconvenience. |
The Update for S12A ApplicantsPlease note that the availability of the MOIRCS spectroscpic mode during S12A will depend on the recovery schedule of the Telescope. When you apply for the MOS observation, you must explicitly write the required numbers of the MOS mask (both for the Full and the Minimum Number of Nights) in the Sect 11 of the application form. And also, please explicitly justify why you need the requested number of MOS mask on the technical detail part in Sect 14. Please note that the number of MOS mask will be fixed once it is assigned by TAC's critical reviewing. The request for any backup mask is basically not permitted, unless there are any special reasons. |
Introduction
MOIRCS (Multi-Object InfraRed Camera and Spectrograph) provides wide-field imaging and long-slit / multi-object (MOS) spectroscopic capabilities in the 0.9 ~ 2.5 µm spectral range under the natural seeing condition. The 4'×7' field of view is covered by two Hawaii-2 2048×2048 arrays with the spatial resolution of 0.117 arcsec/pixel.
For the imaging mode, the standard MKO YJHKs filters as well as some narrow-band filters are available. See the Imaging Mode Page for more details.
The MOS performance of MOIRCS spectroscopy mode is the most notable feature of the instrument. Using the cooled aluminium slit masks, MOIRCS can acquire about 40 object spectra simultaneously across 0.9~2.5 micron wavelengths range. Currently low-resolution (R~500), medium-resolution (R~1300), and high-resolution (R~3000) modes are available. See the Spectroscopy Page for more details. All MOS observers/applicants should carefully read the MOS observation pages.
Instrument and Detector
Imaging mode
Spectroscopy mode
- Available grisms and sensitivities
- Wavelength Calibration
- Guide to exposure time
- MOS observation
- Information
Instrument Citation
Please cite the following papers when you refer MOIRCS in your publication.- "Multi-Object Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (MOIRCS) for the Subaru Telescope I. Imaging"
- Suzuki, R. et al. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 2008, Vol.60, No.6, pp.1347--1362.
- "MOIRCS: Multi-Object Infrared Camera and Spectrograph for SUBARU"
- Ichikawa, T. et al. 2006, in Proc. of SPIE, Vol. 6269, 38
Note that any data on the pages are subject to change.
Contact:Dr. Ichi Tanaka (MOIRCS Support Astronomer: email
)Updated 2011-08-08