Precision Environmental Control

Developed and operates HexPak and GradPak, two Integral Field Units (IFUs) that feed into the Bench Spectrograph, with HexPak having a high spatial resolution core of 0.94 arcsec fibers for face-on and early type galaxies, and GradPak being a 39 X 55 arcsec rectangular array with varying fiber sizes for edge-on systems.

Developed and operates HexPak and GradPak, two Integral Field Units (IFUs) that feed into the Bench Spectrograph, with HexPak having a high spatial resolution core of 0.94 arcsec fibers for face-on and early-type galaxies, and GradPak being a 39 X 55 arcsec rectangular array with varying fiber sizes for edge-on systems. Also developed and operates SparsePak, a sparsely packed fiber optics bundle designed for studying the spatial distribution of internal motions of gas and stars in nearby galaxies and for general use in galactic and extra-galactic nebulae.

Developed and operates SparsePak, a sparsely packed fiber optics bundle with a nearly-integral core, designed as an Integral Field Unit to study the spatial distribution of internal motions of gas and stars in nearby galaxies and for general use in galactic and extra-galactic nebulae.

Developed and operates SparsePak, a sparsely packed fiber optics bundle with a nearly-integral core, designed to study the spatial distribution of internal motions of gas and stars in nearby galaxies and for general use in galactic and extra-galactic nebulae.

Maintains an Instrument Adapter Subsystem (IAS) that serves as the general Scientific Instrument interface and guider for the WIYN telescope, including support electronics.

Developed and operates HexPak and GradPak, two Integral Field Units (IFUs) that feed into the Bench Spectrograph, with HexPak having a high spatial resolution core of 0.94 arcsec fibers for face-on and early-type galaxies, and GradPak being a 39 X 55 arcsec rectangular array with varying fiber sizes for edge-on systems.

Operates WHIRC (WIYN High-Resolution Infrared Camera), a near-infrared imager that can be used with the WIYN Tip-Tilt module (WTTM) for high spatial resolution and sensitivity.

Operates a stable, isolated Bench Spectrograph optimized for optical fibers, allowing for configuration changes between high and low dispersion and various spectral regions, and built a new spectrograph room to house the NEID spectrograph.

Operates Hydra, a multi-fiber positioner and multi-object spectrometer that places optical fibers at the telescope focal plane to transmit light from multiple objects within a 1-degree field diameter to the Bench Spectrograph, maintaining 10 guide fibers and providing 90 active red and 83 active blue fibers per cable.

Operates Hydra, a multi-fiber positioner and multi-object spectrometer that places optical fibers at the telescope focal plane to transmit light from multiple objects within a 1-degree field diameter to the Bench Spectrograph, maintaining 10 guide fibers and offering 90 active red and 83 active blue fibers per cable.

Operates Hydra, a multi-fiber positioner and multi-object spectrograph that places optical fibers at the telescope focal plane to transmit light from multiple objects within a 1-degree field diameter to the Bench Spectrograph, maintaining 10 guide fibers and providing 90 active red and 83 active blue fibers per cable.

Commissioned the NEID high precision radial velocity spectrometer in 2019, which is permanently mounted onto the folded cassegrain port, and observes 1-3 RV standard stars from a list of 9 targets every night, making the raw and reduced data publicly available.

Commissioned the NEID high precision radial velocity spectrometer in 2019, which is permanently mounted onto the folded cassegrain port, and observes 1-3 RV standard stars from a list of 9 targets every night, making the raw and reduced data publicly available.

Operates and commissioned NESSI, which uses two electron-multiplying CCD cameras to capture speckle images for detecting faint companions to target stars with astrometry and photometric characterization, primarily for NN-Explore observing programs to scrutinize known or candidate exoplanet host stars and other stellar samples, and can be used for high-speed photometry.

Operates and commissioned NESSI, which uses two electron-multiplying CCD cameras to capture speckle images for detecting faint companions to target stars with astrometry and photometric characterization, primarily for NN-Explore observing programs to scrutinize known or candidate exoplanet host stars and other stellar samples, and can image at a maximum frame rate of 26 frames per second over full 1024x1024 pixel detectors.

Operates and commissioned NESSI, which uses two electron-multiplying CCD cameras to capture speckle images for detecting faint companions to target stars with astrometry and photometric characterization, primarily for NN-Explore observing programs, and can image at a maximum frame rate of 26 frames per second over full 1024x1024 pixel detectors.

Operates and commissioned the One Degree Imager (ODI), an instrument with a one-degree field of view and 0.11" pixels, capable of up to 1 Gigapixel imaging, utilizing Orthogonal Transfer Array CCD technology for improved image sharpness, and transferring all data for pipeline processing, archiving, and public access after an 18-month proprietary period.

Operates and commissioned the One Degree Imager (ODI), an instrument with a one-degree field of view and 0.11" pixels, capable of up to 1 Gigapixel imaging using 30 out of 64 possible Orthogonal Transfer Arrays (OTAs) covering approximately 40 x 48 arcminutes, and transfers all data to Indiana University for processing, archiving, and public access after an 18-month proprietary period.