The beginning of 2023 has been a particularly busy time for the iLocater program. Several important milestones have been completed, bringing the instrument closer to its ultimate delivery to the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona.
One of the key items completed in February was the transfer of key instrument components from the University of Notre Dame to the Department of Astronomy at The Ohio State University (OSU). OSU, who are also a partner in the Large Binocular Telescope, is supporting the final integration and testing of iLocater. The work will led by staff from the OSU Imaging Sciences Laboratory (ISL).
The successful shipping of the instrument cryostat and associated hardware to OSU marks the beginning of the lengthy instrument integration process. This will take place over the next several months at the ISL facilities. Work to be completed includes the spectrograph delivery and integration, optical performance characterization, and thermal stability testing. These are all critical for the ultimate success of iLocater.
The shipping process from South Bend, IN to Ohio also serves as an important test for the final instrument delivery. It allows the verification of the shipping strategy being proposed to deliver the instrument to a remote mountain-top location in Arizona. That shipping process is significantly challenging due to the remote location of the Large Binocular Telescope, and testing during the delivery Columbus has allowed key items to be verified for performance.
Delivery of the iLocater cryostat to The Ohio State University.
