EDiFiSE - Equalized and Diffraction-limited field spectrograph experiment

J. Acosta (IP), J.J. Fuensalida (IP)

B. García-Lorenzo (Co-IP), A. Alonso (Gestor), H. Chulani, F. Gracia, J. López, Y. Martín

Introduction

EDiFiSE (Equalized and Diffraction-limited field spectrograph experiment) is an instrument for tehcnological demonstration. It includes one Adaptive Optics system (high order and low order units) and one Equalized Integral Field Unit Spectrograph. The project has been defined as a demonstration platform for future science instruments in new generation large telescopes where the vertical information on the atmospheric turbulence is determined in real time. For this reason, the adaptive optics and the science instrument have been designed together integrated.

EDIFISE was born from the achievements of project AYA2003-07728 and within the framework of project AYA 2006-13682: "Sensing and correction of atmospheric turbulence: astronomical application", which has its continuity in AYA2009-12903 and AYA2012-39136, in which is intended, on the one hand, to extract and analyze, in real time, the relevant information of turbulence and mesospheric sodium to supply it to AO / MCAO systems; and on the other hand, the application of techniques to attenuate the effects of saturation produced by the brightest object that prevent the detection of the weak nearby objects. The scientific case of EDIFISE is focused on compact objects with high contrast in intensity. The detection of the spatial components of the weak object will take advantage of both the improved spatial resolution and the spectral resolution.

The objective of EDiFiSe was basically to validate the concept of an instrument, but the result is not an instrument that can be used routinely in any telescope. For this reason, and in parallel with the final testing phase of the prototype, in 2017 it was decided to use its different subsystems separately for science observations.