Skip to content

MOIRCS

  The Update for S25B Applicants

2025-1-27

Important Updates

  • A Note on MOS Service Program

    A conditional access to the Multi-Object Spectroscopy (MOS) Mode for Service Program has been available since S24A. The applicants must contact the SA first at least 1 week before the deadline, with a clear justification (with enough background information) to apply the program. Please read the detailed description in the "MOIRCS Information for Spectroscopy Mode" page. The direct link is below.

    Important Notice for the MOS Service Program

  • Possible Unavailability of Some Filters

    Those who have a plan to use the following Filters during S25B - S26A should send the intention notice for use to the primary SA before 1st March, 2025. We may temporarily remove one of them to accept user filters.

    Candidates: NB119, NB155, CO, STD_K

General Notes

Please carefully read the following MOIRCS web pages before you submit proposals. If you have any questions, please contact the primary Support Astronomer (see the bottom of the page).

  • General Notes for the MOS Applicants

    When you apply for the MOS observation, you must explicitly specify the required number of MOS masks (for both the FULL and the MINIMUM number of nights) in Section 16 (Instrument Requirement) of the application form, with a clear justification for these numbers in Section 14 (Technical Justification).

    The UH proposals must also follow the same rule.

    The number of MOS masks will be fixed once it is assigned by TAC's critical review. See the end of the MOS observation page for the backup mask policy.

    Note that the maximum number of MOS masks available for one contiguous observing period is 16. If you need to use more MOS masks for your program, please explicitly request two or more observing sessions to cope with the limit.

  • Preimages

    You will need a FITS image of your MOS target field for mask design. If you don't have any images for the design, we recommend using the HSC SSP images (if available) or the Pan-STARRs images after converting it to the MOIRCS pixel scale (0.117/pix).

    If you have a special reason to ask to take the pre-imaging data by MOIRCS ("preimage observation"), please explicitly request it (with justification) in the proposal (Technical Justification). And also, please contact the support astronomer about the execution of the preimage as soon as possible once your program is accepted.

Introduction

MOIRCS (Multi-Object InfraRed Camera and Spectrograph) provides wide-field imaging and long-slit/multi-object (MOS) spectroscopic capabilities in the 0.9 ~ 2.5 Β΅m spectral range under the natural seeing condition. The 4'Γ—7' field of view is covered by two 2048Γ—2048 Hawaii-2RG infrared detector arrays with a spatial resolution of 0.116 arcsec/pixel.

For the imaging mode, the standard MKO YJHKs filters as well as some narrow-band filters are available. See the Imaging Mode Page for more details.

The MOS performance of MOIRCS spectroscopy mode is the most notable feature of the instrument. Using the cooled aluminum slit masks, MOIRCS can acquire 40 ~ 60 object spectra simultaneously across a 0.9~2.5 Β΅m wavelength range. The low-resolution (R~500) and medium-resolution (R~2000-3000) grisms are available. See the Spectroscopy Page for more details. All MOS observers/applicants should carefully read the MOS observation pages.

Instrument and Detector

Imaging Mode

Spectroscopy Mode

Instrument Citation

Please cite the following papers when you refer to MOIRCS in your publication.

For the MOIRCS Upgrade 2015 works, you may refer to these papers below.

MOIRCS Management Structure

Observation Support Astronomers

  • Primary: Dr. Ichi Tanaka (email: )
  • Secondary: Dr. Kentaro Aoki (email: )

Primary Instrument Operator / Documentation Responsible

  • TBD

Data Distribution Responsible

  • Tom Winegar and Computer Division (email: helpdesk_AT_naoj.org)

Instrument Hardware and Software Responsible

  • Instrument Division (email: instdiv_AT_naoj.org)

Please change _AT_ to @ for the email address.

The Support Schedule can be found here.

Contact

Any questions regarding MOIRCS should be directed to Dr. Ichi Tanaka (primary SA: e-mail email).

Updated: 2024-07-25