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Instrumentation on OIR Large Telescopes – A Case Study

Instrumentation on OIR Large Telescopes – A Case Study . S. R. Kulkarni Caltech Optical Observatories. Workhorse Instruments Optical Imagers & Spectrographs NIR Imagers & Spectrographs and so on Specialized Instruments Polarimeters , Rapid spectroscopy, ..

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Instrumentation on OIR Large Telescopes – A Case Study

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  1. Instrumentation on OIR Large Telescopes – A Case Study S. R. Kulkarni Caltech Optical Observatories

  2. Workhorse Instruments • Optical Imagers & Spectrographs • NIR Imagers & Spectrographs and so on • Specialized Instruments • Polarimeters, Rapid spectroscopy, .. • Adaptive Optics & related instruments • “Mega” instruments • Very powerful capabilities (e.g. PFS, GPI, NGAO)

  3. Motivation • Cost of workhorse instruments is increasing much faster than inflation • The cost of Adaptive Optics facility (let alone instruments) is significant • The cost of mega instruments is now approaching that of the telescope itself

  4. Issues: Prioritization & Opportunity Costs • Given a fixed budget how to prioritize instrumentation • New instruments versus Upgrades • Which instruments should be built? • Mega-instrument • Say cost of a mega instrument is $50M • Per night usage is $50M/N where N=total number of nights • Inversely the opportunity cost of Mega instruments is significant both in money and nights

  5. A case study: analyze the output of the keck telescopes

  6. Keck Telescopes • Keck I, commissioned in 1993 [$93M] • Keck II, commissioned in 1996[$73M] • Other than thermal-IR Keck has a complement of instruments from blue to NIR

  7. The Instruments • NIRC • NIRC2 • NIRSPEC • OSIRIS • MOSFIRE • LRIS • HIRES • ESI • DEIMOS • KCWI

  8. Keck AO Facility • We have LGS AO on both telescopes. • NIRC2 is at Keck II • OSIRIS at Keck I • Continuous upgrades (Center Launch, NIR Tip-tilt, wavefront controller upgrades etc)

  9. Primary data • Use the publications which are listed on the WM Keck site • http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/library/keck_papers.html • This list is due to PeggiKamisato and Taft Armandroff.

  10. Top papers by citations

  11. LIGHT CURVES

  12. Some Conclusions • It takes about five years for an instrument to peak • The usable lifetime of instruments, if not upgraded, is 10 years • Optical instruments seem to be more productive and have more impact than NIR (with and without AO) instruments • Upgrades increase the productivity of instruments at very low cost

  13. Are builders well recognized?

  14. Cost & value of a night

  15. Case study: the very large array

  16. Should a new all-sky survey be undertaken by the VLA?

  17. NVSS & FIRST FIRST NVSS

  18. Survey returns • NVSS and FIRST started off with linear returns for five years and another decade to reach peak fluxes • NVSS is returning three times more citations than the typical mix of programs • A second sky survey is eminently reasonable and should be undertaken rapidly

  19. Discussion for the audience

  20. Mega Instruments & Surveys • Mega-instruments are powerful but also expensive. • eg. HSC, PFS, BigBOSS, GPI, SPHERE • Once built must be used extensively • Presumably the science returns demand it • Age of Surveys • Even PTF can keep Palomar and Keck quite busy • Let alone HSC • Let alone GAIA • Let alone planned radio surveys

  21. Lack of Followup telescopes • Mega-instruments remove telescopes from routine use • Surveys demand extensive follow up • But no new telescopes are being contemplated ……

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