SpecTel: A 10-12 meter class Spectroscopic Survey Telescope

Richard Ellis; Kyle Dawson; Joss Bland-Hawthorn; Roland Bacon; Adam Bolton; Malcolm Bremer; Jarle Brinchmann; Kevin Bundy; Charlie Conroy; Bernard Delabre; Arjun Dey; Alex Drlica-Wagner; Jenny Greene; Luigi Guzzo; Jennifer Johnson; Alexie Leauthaud; Khee-Gan Lee; Luca Pasquini; Laura Pentericci; Johan Richard; Hans-Walter Rix; Connie Rockosi; David Schlegel; Anže Slosar; Michael Strauss; Masahiro Takada; Eline Tolstoy; Darach Watson

arXiv · 1907.06797

SpecTel: A 10-12 meter class Spectroscopic Survey Telescope

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Abstract

We recommend a conceptual design study for a spectroscopic facility in the southern hemisphere comprising a large diameter telescope, fiber system, and spectrographs collectively optimized for massively-multiplexed spectroscopy. As a baseline, we propose an 11.4-meter aperture, optical spectroscopic survey telescope with a five square degree field of view. Using current technologies, the facility could be equipped with 15,000 robotically-controlled fibers feeding spectrographs over 360<lambda<1330 nm with options for fiber-fed spectrographs at high resolution and a panoramic IFU at a separate focus. This would enable transformational progress via its ability to access a larger fraction of objects from Gaia, LSST, Euclid, and WFIRST than any currently funded or planned spectroscopic facility. An ESO-sponsored study (arXiv:1701.01976) discussed the scientific potential in ambitious new spectroscopic surveys in Galactic astronomy, extragalactic astronomy, and cosmology. The US community should establish links with European and other international communities to plan for such a powerful facility and maximize the potential of large aperture multi-object spectroscopy given the considerable investment in deep imaging surveys.

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Richard Ellis, Kyle Dawson, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Roland Bacon, Adam Bolton, Malcolm Bremer, Jarle Brinchmann, Kevin Bundy, Charlie Conroy, Bernard Delabre, Arjun Dey, Alex Drlica-Wagner, Jenny Greene, Luigi Guzzo, Jennifer Johnson, Alexie Leauthaud, Khee-Gan Lee, Luca Pasquini, Laura Pentericci, Johan Richard, Hans-Walter Rix, Connie Rockosi, David Schlegel, Anže Slosar, Michael Strauss, Masahiro Takada, Eline Tolstoy, Darach Watson. 2019-07-16. SpecTel: A 10-12 meter class Spectroscopic Survey Telescope. https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.06797

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