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| Keck/HIRES | |
|---|---|
| Name | HIRES |
| Telescope | W. M. Keck Observatory Keck I |
| Type | Echelle spectrograph |
| Wavelength | Optical (300–1100 nm) |
| Resolution | R ≈ 25,000–85,000 |
| Instrument | High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer |
| First light | 1993 |
| Operator | W. M. Keck Observatory |
Keck/HIRES is a high-resolution echelle spectrograph installed on the Keck I telescope on Mauna Kea operated by the W. M. Keck Observatory. It serves as a primary facility instrument for precision radial-velocity, stellar, exoplanetary, and interstellar medium spectroscopy, and has been central to major programs led by leading institutions such as California Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and collaborators from Carnegie Institution for Science. The instrument's combination of large collecting area from the Keck Observatory and high spectral resolving power enabled breakthroughs in observations associated with targets from Sun-like stars to high-redshift quasars.
HIRES is an echelle spectrograph mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the Keck I 10-meter telescope used by teams from California Institute of Technology, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Carnegie Institution for Science. The instrument uses a cross-dispersed echelle grating, a mosaic of CCD detectors, and a configurable slit and image slicer to provide resolving powers up to ≈85,000 suitable for projects by groups at Harvard University, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and international partners such as University of Cambridge, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, and Australian National University. HIRES interfaces with observatory systems from W. M. Keck Observatory and benefits from infrastructure provided by Mauna Kea Observatories partners.
HIRES was conceived during proposals and instrument development in the late 1980s and built by teams including engineers from California Institute of Technology and optical firms associated with projects at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Commissioning and first light in the early 1990s followed funding and oversight involving entities such as the W. M. Keck Foundation and instrument scientists affiliated with University of California, Berkeley and Carnegie Institution for Science. Over successive decades HIRES supported pioneering studies led by researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, University of Chicago, and international consortia from European Southern Observatory partners.
The core optical train uses a white-pupil echelle design feeding a cross-disperser and a cryogenically cooled CCD mosaic that shares heritage with spectrographs built for projects at Palomar Observatory and facilities at Lick Observatory. Optics were fabricated to tolerances comparable to components used in instruments for Hubble Space Telescope calibration programs and the dispersing elements were specified by manufacturers with histories of work for Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ball Aerospace. The slit mechanism and guider interface leverage subsystems analogous to those at Subaru Telescope and Gemini Observatory, while thermal and mechanical stabilization drew on practices from National Optical Astronomy Observatory instrument suites.
HIRES supports classical slit spectroscopy, iodine cell radial-velocity calibration used in precision programs pioneered by teams at California Institute of Technology and Carnegie Institution for Science, and time-series spectroscopy exploited by groups at University of California, Berkeley and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The instrument covers wavelengths from the near-ultraviolet through the red and interfaces with detector electronics and data acquisition systems similar to those employed at Keck II instrument packages and other major facilities like Very Large Telescope. Observing strategies developed by investigators at Princeton University, Harvard University, and University of Cambridge used HIRES for transit spectroscopy, abundance analyses, and quasar absorption-line studies.
Data reduction pipelines for HIRES evolved from early IRAF-based scripts to modern software maintained by teams at Carnegie Institution for Science and community tools developed by researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz and University of California, Berkeley. Wavelength calibration historically relied on thorium-argon lamps and the iodine absorption-cell technique advanced by groups at California Institute of Technology; later practices incorporated telluric correction procedures used by investigators from Gemini Observatory and cross-correlation methods common to programs at Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. Calibration strategies enabled precision radial velocities and quantitative abundance measurements cited in papers from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and University of Chicago.
HIRES played a pivotal role in the detection and confirmation of numerous exoplanets through radial-velocity surveys led by teams at California Institute of Technology, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Carnegie Institution for Science, contributing to landmark discoveries associated with researchers such as those from Harvard University and Princeton University. The instrument enabled detailed chemical abundance studies of halo stars by groups at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and University of Cambridge, quasar absorption-line work by teams at University of Chicago and European Southern Observatory collaborators, and time-resolved spectroscopy of transients pursued by investigators at California Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley. HIRES spectra supported cosmological measurements related to Big Bang nucleosynthesis constraints via metal-poor star analyses and intergalactic medium studies by researchers affiliated with Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and Carnegie Institution for Science.
Operational performance was maintained through scheduled upgrades and detector replacements coordinated by staff from W. M. Keck Observatory and partner institutions including California Institute of Technology and University of California, Santa Cruz. Major enhancements over the instrument lifetime included CCD mosaics with improved quantum efficiency informed by developments at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and calibration improvements influenced by techniques from European Southern Observatory and National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Ongoing maintenance programs involve optics recoating, mechanical rework, and software modernization supported by engineering groups at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and observatory operations teams at W. M. Keck Observatory.
Category:Spectrographs