Fiberguide to Build Fiber Optic Array for Gemini Telescope Spectrograph

The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) has selected Fiberguide Industries Inc. to build the fiber optic array at the heart of the GHOST (Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph) in the Gemini South telescope.

The Gemini South telescope pictured with star-trails of the South Celestial Pole overhead. Courtesy of Gemini Observatory/AURA/National Science Foundation.

GHOST will provide two-object plus sky spectroscopy at full wavelength coverage from 363 to 950 nm and resolutions from 50,000 to 75,000. The instrument will enable efficient scanning of the night sky.

Each fiber will carry a fraction of the light coming from a stellar object to minimize losses due to atmospheric blurring. Parameters such as fiber optic pointing error and insertion loss are minimized by using proprietary construction techniques, Fiberguide said.