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High Resolution Infrared Spectroscopy (1Mar95)
(from KPNO, NOAO Newsletter No. 41, 1 March 1995)

                         The Rise of Phoenix...

Phoenix, the high resolution infrared spectrograph, is progressing rapidly
toward first light next winter.  The drawings required to construct the
instrument have been completed and the large mechanical parts have either
been fabricated or contracts let for their construction.  There are several
hundred small parts being fabricated, and our shop will be busy with these
this spring.  All the optics have arrived and are ready to be installed.  We
expect to start assembling the instrument in late summer with laboratory
testing going on into the fall.  In the echelle mode, Phoenix will offer
resolutions 100,000 (2 pixel sampling) or 66,000 (3 pixel sampling) for
spectroscopy in the 1-5 um region.  The detector will be an InSb array.  As
a result of the rapid increase in background radiation from 2-5 um and the
large free spectral range imposed by the available echelle rulings, Phoenix is
not cross dispersed.  The intent is to offer Phoenix initially on the Kitt Peak
2.1-m and 4-m telescopes.  Future plans call for shared use with CTIO and
Gemini.

                          [Photo not included]

         Photo caption:  Senior instrument makers Mark Gougeon
         (left) and Martin Robertson (right) with the sections of the
         Phoenix collimator they have fabricated.

                          The Future of the FTS

Due to the large effort involved in the assembly of Phoenix, we will not
offer the FTS on the 4-m in the fall semester.  A number of electronic
components as well as the control computer for the FTS are old, and over
the past year we have experienced a number of problems with A/D
components made by a manufacturer no longer in business.  Due to budget
constraints we can not replace components and as a result the observatory
will ultimately be forced to withdraw the FTS from service.  Phoenix, CRSP,
NICMASS at the Feed (see following article), and the next generation
infrared spectrographs now in the conceptual design stage will cover many of
the FTS capabilities with greatly enhanced sensitivity.  If you feel that you
require FTS observations you are urged to contact the undersigned as soon as
possible.

Ken Hinkle

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