Development of Iodine Cells for the Subaru HDS and the Okayama HIDES: I. Instrumentation and Performance of the Spectrographs

• Published in: Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan 2002-12, Vol.54 (6), p.865-871
• Main Authors: Kambe, Eiji, Sato, Bun’ei, Takeda, Yoichi, Ando, Hiroyasu, Noguchi, Kunio, Aoki, Wako, Izumiura, Hideyuki, Wada, Setsuko, Masuda, Seiji, Okada, Norio, Shimizu, Yasuhiro, Watanabe, Etsuji, Yoshida, Michitoshi, Honda, Satoshi, Kawanomoto, Satoshi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0004-6264; 2053-051X
• DOI: 10.1093/pasj/54.6.865

We have developed iodine ( $\mathrm{I}_2$ ) cells for the High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS) on the Subaru telescope and for the HIgh Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph (HIDES) on the Okayama 1.88m reflector. The cell is put into a compact vacuum vessel, which fits into a small space behind the entrance slit of the HDS. The cell assembly is designed to minimize heat losses from the cell, which is heated during observations, to keep $\mathrm{I}_2$ vapor from condensation. The amount of $\mathrm{I}_2$ in the cell is determined to be best suited for radial-velocity measurements of solar-type stars. We also report on some performances of the HDS and HIDES as well as their instrumental profiles based on tests of our $\mathrm{I}_2$ cells. Lastly, we discuss future improvements of our instruments and data-analysis softwares for $\mathrm{I}_2$ observations, and also describe the scientific goals of our project.