The Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) is one of three scientific instruments onboard the European Space Agency (ESA)'s Herschel Space Observatory. Herschel was successfully launched on 14 May 2009; routine science observations commenced in late 2009. Medium resolution spectroscopy with SPIRE is accomplished via an imaging Fourier transform spectrometer (IFTS) of the Mach-Zehnder configuration. Although pre-launch performance verification and calibration measurements were conducted with the SPIRE instrument mounted in an evacuated cryostat at cryogenic temperatures, it was not possible to simulate fully the expected in-flight conditions. This paper compares the performance of the SPIRE IFTS, as measured during ground-based tests, with theoretical simulations. In turn, these results are used to provide an estimate of the in-flight instrument performance. This paper includes a discussion of key aspects of the SPIRE IFTS including the spectrometer dual-input compensation scheme, instrument line shape and the overall instrument sensitivity. As a case study, the derived instrument performance is used to investigate SPIRE's utility in observing astronomical line emission from the starburst galaxy M82.
Performance evaluation of the Herschel/SPIRE imaging Fourier transform spectrometer through ground-based measurements
Measurement Science and Technology ; 21 , 6 ; 065601/1-065601/9
2010
9 Seiten, 8 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 21 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
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