SPINR --- A system for three dimensional ultraviolet imaging spectroscopy of interstellar gas and dust

Session 17 - The Galactic Interstellar Gas.
Display session, Monday, January 13
Metropolitan Ballroom,

[17.06] SPINR --- A system for three dimensional ultraviolet imaging spectroscopy of interstellar gas and dust

T. A. Cook, V. J. Taylor, S. Chakrabarti (Boston U.)

We are currently constructing the Spectrograph for Photometric Imaging with Numeric Reconstruction (SPINR) for high spectral resolution (5Å\ over a 900 to 1400Å\ bandpass) imaging of the Scorpius region from a sounding rocket. The system is designed to map (in two spatial dimensions and one spectral dimension) the ultraviolet spectral properties of a ten by ten degree field using a novel spinning spectrograph technique. We discuss the design and status of the hardware as well as simulations of the software needed deconvolve the data.

By using SPINR to measure the spectral properties of the scattered light from the interstellar medium (ISM) as well as the absorption spectra to the collection of stars at different depths in the field we can constrain the physical properties of the ISM more closely than with either method alone.

Program listing for Monday