Subaru Telescope - Instruments

Instruments

Several cameras and spectrographs can be mounted at Subaru Telescope's four focal points for observations in visible and infrared wavelengths.

Multi-Object Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (MOIRCS)
Wide-field camera and spectrograph with the ability to take spectra of multiple objects simultaneously, mounts on the Cassegrain focus.
Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (IRCS)
Used in conjunction with the new 188-element adaptive optics unit (AO188), mounted at the infrared Nasmyth focus.
Cooled Mid Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS)
Mid-infrared camera and spectrometer with the ability to study cool interstellar dust, mounts on the Cassegrain focus.
Faint Object Camera And Spectrograph (FOCAS)
Visible-light camera and spectrograph with the ability to take spectra of up to 100 objects simultaneously, mounts on the Cassegrain focus.
Subaru Prime Focus Camera (Suprime-Cam)
80-megapixel wide-field visible-light camera, mounts at the prime focus.
High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS)
Visible-light spectrograph mounted at the optical Nasmyth focus.
Fiber Multi Object Spectrograph (FMOS)
Infrared spectrograph using movable fiber optics to take spectra of up to 400 objects simultaneously. Mounts at the prime focus.
High-Contrast Coronographic Imager for Adaptive Optics (HiCIAO)
Infrared camera for hunting planets around other stars. Used with AO188, mounted at the infrared Nasmyth focus.

Hyper Suprime-Cam, a 900-megapixel ultra-wide-field camera, is being built as of late 2011, with first light planned for the end of January 2012. The extremely large wide-field correction optics (a seven-element lens with some elements up to a metre in diameter) was manufactured by Canon and delivered March 29, 2011. It will be used for surveys of weak lensing to determine dark matter distribution.

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