The SOFIA far-infrared spectrometer FIFI-LS: spearheading a post Herschel era

摘要

FIFI-LS (Field-Imaging Far-Infrared Line Spectrometer) is an imaging spectrograph for SOFIA comprised of twomedium resolution (R~2200) grating spectrometers feeding two 16x25 pixel detector arrays, which enable simultaneousline observations across two wavelength ranges (42-110 μm and 110-210μm) each across a field of view of 5x5 pixel.FIFI-LS will be the extragalactic spectroscopic workhorse for SOFIA. FIFI-LS has enough sensitivity to observe asubstantial sample of nearby galaxies. It also has the right combination of wavelength range and spatial resolution tocarry out unique new observations beyond those possible with Herschel, Spitzer, ISO and IRAS. As the effectivesensitivity of FIFI-LS is only about a factor of 3-5 lower than the PACS spectrometer onboard Herschel, mainly due toan enhanced multiplexing advantage, FIFI-LS will build upon recent exciting scientific results and spearhead the post-Herschel far-infrared era.FIFI-LS is scheduled for commissioning onboard SOFIA in early 2014. An account on the instrument and its currentstratus will be presented.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.