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IR Activities at NSO/SP (1Dec94) (from NSO, NOAO Newsletter No. 40, 1 December 1994) A small Ebert-Fastie IR spectrograph was completed. The instrument is designed for an f/6 beam and yields a dispersion of about 0.08 nm/pixel in the 1-1.6 um range using the NICMOS III camera system. The instrument is designed for the upcoming total eclipse expedition but will be useful for other coronal IR spectroscopy at low spatial resolution. A liquid crystal-based Lyot filter has been ordered from CRI, Inc. This device will use a new type of IR polarizer that should yield a high system transmission (30%) over the 1-2.3 um range. The filter is modular, allowing a high resolution mode (3.0 nm passband) or a wide-field passband (15 nm). This is needed for IR coronal imaging and spectroscopy studies at the Evans coronagraph. In collaboration with the Air Force group, a Queensgate Fabry Perot etalon has also been ordered, to be used with the existing Fabry-Perot controller. This system will be used for IR magnetometry using the infrared iron lines. A complete Stokes IR polarization analyzer is being built from Meadowlark Optics liquid crystal retarders. The optical and electrical components for this system are currently on order. NSO/SP will soon have its own HgCdTe detector system (all previous IR detectors have been cost- shared with WIRO, MSU and Haverford). A 256 X 256 deep-well device has been ordered from Rockwell. A copy of an existing electronic controller will be used with an existing spare dewar on loan from NSO/KP. We have begun to improve our ability to build and test vacuum equipment. A surplus mass-spec leak detector has arrived from Los Alamos, along with much-needed vacuum fittings and evaporator components. Jeff Kuhn
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