Making SPIFFI SPIFFIER: Upgrade of the SPIFFI instrument for use in ERIS and performance analysis from re-commissioning

Abstract

SPIFFI is an AO-fed integral field spectrograph operating as part of SINFONI on the VLT, which will be upgraded and reused as SPIFFIER in the new VLT instrument ERIS. In January 2016, we used new technology developments to perform an early upgrade to optical subsystems in the SPIFFI instrument so ongoing scientific programs can make use of enhanced performance before ERIS arrives in 2020. We report on the upgraded components and the performance of SPIFFI after the upgrade, including gains in throughput and spatial and spectral resolution. We show results from re-commissioning, highlighting the potential for scientific programs to use the capabilities of the upgraded SPIFFI. Finally, we discuss the additional upgrades for SPIFFIER which will be implemented before it is integrated into ERIS.

20 pages, 12 figures. Proceedings from SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016

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• The rapid formation a large rotating disk galaxy three billion years after the Big Bang
• Evidence for Wide-Spread AGN Driven Outflows in the Most Massive z~1-2 Star Forming Galaxies
• The Galactic Center cloud G2 and its gas streamer
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• Complex spectral line profiles resulting from cryogenic deformation of the SINFONI/SPIFFI diffraction gratings
• High-contrast spectroscopy with the new VLT/ERIS instrument: Molecular maps and radial velocity of the gas giant AF Lep b
• Milky-Way-like stars in a galaxy core 8 billion years ago revealed by gravitational lensing
• Fast, dust-poor outflows in the local candidate dual AGN MCG-03-34-64 observed with VLT/ERIS