TAIPAN starbugs: commissioning and the start of science observations

Rebecca Brown; Tony Farrell; Nuwanthika Fernando; Michael Goodwin; Anthony Horton; Celestina Lacombe; Jon Lawrence; Nuria Lorente; Helen McGregor; Ellie O'Brien; Lewis Waller; Tayyaba Zafar; Jessica Zheng

doi:10.1117/12.2629109

29 August 2022 TAIPAN starbugs: commissioning and the start of science observations

Rebecca Brown, Tony Farrell, Nuwanthika Fernando, Michael Goodwin, Anthony Horton, Celestina Lacombe, Jon Lawrence, Nuria Lorente, Helen McGregor, Ellie O'Brien, Lewis Waller, Tayyaba Zafar, Jessica Zheng

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12184, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX; 121840Y (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2629109
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Abstract

The TAIPAN instrument is installed on the UK Schmidt Telescope and has undergone 5 years of commissioning and verification. It utilizes the Starbug fibre positioning technology and is a proof-of-concept design for future Starbug-based instrumentation. The installation and commissioning of this new technology has provided opportunities to understand the Starbugs in detail. Science verification began in 2021 and has demonstrated the sub-10 minute configuration time, efficiency of small field ‘tweaks’ to correct for atmospheric refraction, and positioning accuracy of the Starbugs. Lessons learned from the commissioning of TAIPAN will directly impact future projects in which the Starbug technology is proposed, such as MANIFEST and FOBOS.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Rebecca Brown, Tony Farrell, Nuwanthika Fernando, Michael Goodwin, Anthony Horton, Celestina Lacombe, Jon Lawrence, Nuria Lorente, Helen McGregor, Ellie O'Brien, Lewis Waller, Tayyaba Zafar, and Jessica Zheng "TAIPAN starbugs: commissioning and the start of science observations", Proc. SPIE 12184, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX, 121840Y (29 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2629109

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