![[MODS1 prep for IMCS testing - 2005 Feb 25]](Pictures/MODS1_20051109.jpg) |
![MODS on its handling cart [2004 Jan 18]](Pictures/Structure/MODS_cart.jpg)
| ||
| MODS1 structure with mechanisms being fitted and prepped for IMCS testing in the OSU Astronomy shop - 2005 Nov 9 (Photo by Rick Pogge) [more pictures] |
MODS on its Handling Cart (AutoCAD Rendering by Mark Derwent) |
MODS is a low- to medium-resolution Multi-Object Double CCD Spectrograph and Imager being designed and built by OSU for the Large Binocular Telescope. Two full MODS spectrographs will be built, one for each of the direct f/15 Gregorian foci of the LBT. The two MODS will work in tandem to exploit the full 11.8-meter effective aperture of the twin LBT mirrors.
MODS provides low- and medium-resolution spectroscopy (R=2000-8000) and imaging across the entire 330-1100nm band in a 6x6-arcminute field of view. Multi-object spectroscopy is accomplished using laser-machined focal-plane slit masks fed into the beam by a 24-position mask cassette. A beam selector below the slit carries a dichroic that splits the incoming beam into separate red- and blue-optimized channels (split wavelength is 575nm), each with its own collimator, grating, camera and detector, allowing simultaneous operation across the entire CCD band. The beam selector can also direct light into the red or blue channels alone, providing blue-/red-only modes to extend wavelength coverage across the dichroic cross-over wavelength as required. The MODS CCDs are custom-built 3x8K monolithic E2V CCDs; blue-coated standard silicon on the blue channel and extended-red coated 40-micron deep depletion silicon on the red channel.
The first two-channel MODS is currently in advanced integration and testing in the instrumentation lab at OSU, and will be shipped to LBT for commissioning at the SX Direct Gregorian Focus of the LBT in late-2009, with the second two-channel MODS system deployed at the DX Direct Gregorian focus a little over a year later.
This web site provides links to documents, progress reports, and images detailing the status of the design and construction of the MODS spectrographs. The intended audience is the MODS project team, members of the LBT Optical Spectrograph Working Group (LBTOSWG), and interested members of the LBT community.
| Our Sponsors: | ||
 |
 |
 |
MODS is supported by the Ohio State University with major support provided by grants from National Science Foundation's Division of Astronomical Sciences Advanced Technologies and Instrumention (AST-9987045) and NSF/NOAO TSIP Programs, and with matching funds provided by the Ohio State University Office of Research and the Ohio Board of Regents. Graduate students have been supported by the David G. Price Fellowship in Astronomical Instrumentation.
OSU Department of Astronomy | McPherson Laboratory 140 W 18th Avenue | Columbus, Ohio 43210-1173
Phone: 614-292-1773 | Fax: 614 292 2928 | More Contact Info | Accessibility Contact
If you have trouble accessing this page and need to request an alternate format, contact webmaster@astronomy.ohio-state.edu.
Last Modified on Tuesday 2009 June 2 at 15:38:05 EDT
