User's Guide to the Hamilton Spectrograph


Table of Contents


Introduction
Quick Reference
Hardware
CCD Characteristics
Apertures
Grating Tilt & Dewar Height
Filter Wheel & Shutter
Calibration Sources
Photon Integrator
Image Rotator
Iodine Cell & Slit Room Controller
Guide Camera & Filter Wheel
Software
Data Taking System
Hamilton Motor Controller
Showmidpoint
Eventsounds
Hamilton Focus
More Info:
Spectral Format
Navigating the Spectrum
Table of Orders
Setup Procedures
Checklists
Observing Hints
Throughput

Data Archive
Mt. Hamilton Homepage

Quick Reference

Plate Scale | Slit Projection | Translating the Spectrum | Guider Field Rotation | Dispersion | Wavelength Range | Resolution and Instrumental Profile | Optics


Plate Scale
3-m1.89 arcsec/mm
CAT9.45 arcsec/mm
Slit Projection
Slit on Detector 330 μm/pixel (for 15 μm pixels)
264 μm/pixel (for 12 μm pixels)
Slit on Sky, 3-m 530 μm/arcsec
Slit on Sky, CAT 106 μm/arcsec
Translating the Spectrum
Grating Tilt 1.15 units/pixel (Dewars 6 and 8)
0.92 units/pixel (Dewar 4)
Larger grating settings will move the spectrum to the right, revealing bluer wavelengths.
Dewar Height 8.97 units/pixel (Dewars 6 and 8)
7.18 units/pixel (Dewar 4)
Larger height settings will move the spectrum up, revealing bluer orders.
Dispersion
5.61 Angstroms/mm @ 10000 Angstroms
3.64 Angstroms/mm @ 6500 Angstroms
1.96 Angstroms/mm @ 3500 Angstroms
Wavelength Range
~ 3500 to ~ 10000 Angstroms in 107 orders (m=57 to 163)
Resolution and Instrumental Profile
Entrance slit ResolutionFWHM
0.2 arcsecs
(3-m scale)
~ 100,000
@ 6000 Angstroms
~ 1.2 pixels
(0.06 Angstroms)
1.2 arcsecss
(3-m scale)
~ 60,000
@ 6000 Angstroms
~ 2.0 pixels
(0.10 Angstroms)
Optics
Collimator 12-inch off-axis parabola, fl=7.4754 m, beam at collimator=0.2084 m
Grating echelle, 31.5 lines/mm, blaze angle=64.7 degrees, theta=5.5
Cross Disperser two UBK prisms at 43.9 degrees
Camera 508.3-mm f.l., f1.7, folded Schmidt camera and field flattener
Coatings overcoated silver mirrors and anti-reflection coated transmissive optics
Magnification -22 (slit to detector, dispersion direction)
Guider Field Rotation 15 degrees/hour


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Last modified: Fri Feb 25 13:22:55 PST 2011