Equipment: MRI: Track 1 Development of CODAS: A System for Concurrent and Multi-Technique Observations of Time-Sensitive Stellar Astrophysics

Monterey Institute For Research In Astronomy, Marina CA

Investigators

Abstract

In recent decades, astronomers have discovered that the Universe is more dynamic, on all time scales, than previously believed. Astronomical research that depends on observations made with multiple instruments at the same time is challenging to organize and achieve. The Concurrent Observing and Data Acquisition System (CODAS) offers a multi-mode, observing tool that can address the need for simultaneous data. This project will integrate current and new hardware into a single, cohesive instrument that can explore many areas of time-sensitive astrophysics. The CODAS array of instruments is sensitive over a broad range of wavelengths, from the ultraviolet to the infrared. Users will be able to quickly select the optimal instrument configuration for their observations. Students from nearby Hispanic Serving Institutions will be recruited and prioritized within their annual internship program. CODAS utilizes the capacity of the pointing platform to carry the co-aligned 36-inch and 14-inch telescopes and the Guidance-Acquisition Package (GAP), which quickly redirects light to one of multiple instrument access ports on the 36-inch. This project will design, engineer, and document the hardware and software necessary to support concurrent data acquisition (simultaneous 36-inch and 14-inch observations) and contiguous data acquisition (different instrument ports on the 36-inch GAP). It will develop the user software interface required for astronomers to efficiently observe with CODAS. The available observing modes include standard filter photometry with CCD and CMOS detectors, long-slit and echelle spectrographs, and high-precision polarimeters, including a high-efficiency imaging polarimeter. Most instruments are designed to be sensitive from the atmospheric cutoff in the near-ultraviolet (300nm) to the near-IR (1000nm), and to take advantage of the typical sub-arcsecond seeing at the observatory. Additional near-IR detectors extend this range to 2.5 microns for the imaging and spectroscopic modes. This work adds a crucial ability to respond to time domain-critical transient events with multiple instruments. This project will provide training for high school and early college-level interns in the areas of instrument design, engineering and fabrication, and software development. This award addresses/advances the goals of the Windows on the Universe Big Idea. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.