Relative performance of dispersive and non-dispersive far-infrared spectrometer instrument architectures

摘要

This paper presents an analysis of the relative performance of dispersive and non-dispersive spectrometer designs, built for astronomical observing at far infrared wavelengths. The analysis compares the relative point source and mapping capabilities of each configuration in both pure background limited and detector limited regimes. These results are assessed in terms of their application for future space-based astronomical facilities in which astronomical sky background limited performance is realistically achievable.