Instruments
Important: Current Status Report
Subaru Telescope has a suite of eight facility instruments providing imaging and spectroscopic capabilities over the full range of wavelengths from optical to mid-infrared.
- AO188 - Subaru 188-elements Adaptive Optics system - delivers diffraction-limited images in the near-infrared.
- COMICS - Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrograph - provides imaging and spectroscopy from 7.5-25 microns (will be decommissioned from S20B).
- FOCAS - Faint Object Camera And Spectrograph - provides optical imaging and longslit and multi-slit spectroscopy over a 6 arcmin field of view.
- HDS - High Dispersion Spectrograph - provides extremely high-resolution optical spectroscopy.
- HSC - Hyper Suprime-Cam - provides optical imaging over a very large field of view (1.5 degree diameter) with a mosaic of CCDs.
- IRCS - Infrared Camera and Spectrograph - provides high-angular resolution imaging combined with AO188, low-resolution grism and high-resolution echelle spectroscopies over 0.9-5.6 microns.
- MOIRCS - Multi-Object Infrared Camera and Spectrograph - provides imaging and low-resolution spectroscopy from 0.9-2.5 microns over a 4 arcmin x 7 arcmin field of view.
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Visiting instruments* (Procedures to carry-in Visiting instruments )
- CHARIS - Coronagraphic High Angular Resolution Imaging Spectrograph - provides high contrast images of exoplanets, disks, brown dwarfs with SCExAO+AO188.
- IRD - Infrared Doppler - provides high spectral resolution echelle spectroscopy and radial velocity measurements from 0.97 to 1.75 um simultaneously combined with AO188
- SCExAO - Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics - delivers high contrast images of the innermost surrounding of bright sources to CHARIS and VAMPIRES.
- VAMPIRES - Visible Aperture Masking Polarimetric Imager for Resolved Exoplanetary Structures - provides diffraction limited scattered-light imaging of circumstellar environments with sparse aperture masking interferometry (non-redundant masking) combining with differential polarimetry.
(*) Observing proposals using the visiting instruments must include the relevant instrument PI as a Co-investigator.
Decommissioned instruments
- AO36 - Subaru 36-elements Adaptive Optics system - delivers diffraction-limited images in the near-infrared.
- CIAO - Coronagraphic Imager - provides a near-infrared imaging capability in the vicinity of bright sources.
- HiCIAO - High Contrast Instrument for the Subaru Next Generation Adaptive Optics - provides a near-infrared imaging capability in the vicinity of bright sources. Although HiCIAO+AO188 has been extensively used in the SEEDS project and openuse programs, this mode is no longer available since S16B. HiCIAO will be used as a camera combined with SCExAO only (opening until S17B).
- CISCO/OHS - Cooled Infrared Spectrograph and Camera for OHS - provides imaging and low-resolution spectroscopy in the near-infrared.
- FMOS - Fiber Multi Object Spectrograph - provides fiber-fed multi-object spectroscopy from 0.9-1.8 microns over a 30 arcmin field of view.
- Kyoto3DII - Kyoto tridimensional spectrograph II - provides Fabry-Perot / filter imaging and integral field / long-slit spectroscopy in the optical (opening until S17A).
- RAVEN - Multi-Object Adaptive Optics(MOAO) demonstrator - delivers diffraction limited images in 2 science channels to IRCS.
- Suprime-Cam - Subaru Prime Focus Camera - provides optical imaging over a large field of view with a mosaic of CCDs (opening until S17A).
A number of exposure time calculators are available.
The following figure and tables should help you decide which instrument(s) is right for your needs.
Spectroscopic capabilities
| Instrument | Resolution (slit width) | Slit length | Pixel scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMICS | 250-10000 (0.33") | 40" | 0.165" |
| FOCAS | 250-7500 (0.4") | 6', multi | 0.1" |
| HDS | 32000 (1") - 160000 (0.2") | 10", 60" | 0.138" |
| IRCS (grism) | 50 (0.9") - 1400 (0.1") | 6.5-20" | 0.020", 0.052" |
| IRCS (echelle) | 5000 (0.54") - 20000 (0.14") | 3.47-9.37" | 0.055" |
| MOIRCS | 463-3180 (0.5") | multi | 0.116" |
Imaging capabilities
| Instrument | Field of view | Pixel scale | Filters |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMICS | 42" x 32" | 0.13" | 15 |
| FOCAS | 6' diameter | 0.1" | 14 |
| HSC | 1.5 degree diameter | 0.16" | 6 |
| IRCS | 21", 54" | 0.020", 0.052" | 18 |
| MOIRCS | 4' x 7' | 0.116" | 3 |
General enquiries may be directed to Dr. Tae-Soo Pyo (
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01 February, 2019
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