We present preliminary laboratory cryogenic testing and validation results for the first rotary stage for SCALES (Slicer Combined with an Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy). SCALES is a 2-5 micron high-contrast lenslet integral field spectrograph currently undergoing final design and testing for the W. M. Keck Observatory. The rotary stage, known as the Lyot mechanism, is a rotating wheel with 15 selectable pupil masks and optics. When deployed behind the Keck Adaptive Optics system, SCALES will be used to detect and characterize a wide variety of exoplanets. To minimize thermal emission, all optical and mechanical components of SCALES are fully cryogenic. Testing was first performed at ambient temperatures and pressures, then validated under vacuum at cryogenic temperatures.
KEYWORDS: Exoplanets, Planets, Spectrographs, Analog electronics, Solar system, Galactic astronomy, Signal to noise ratio, Telescopes, Observatories, Integrating spheres
Exoplanets are abundant in our galaxy and yet characterizing them remains a technical challenge. Solar System planets provide an opportunity to test the practical limitations of exoplanet observations with high signal-to-noise data that we cannot access for exoplanets. However, data on Solar System planets differ from exoplanets in that Solar System planets are spatially resolved while exoplanets are unresolved point-sources. We present a novel instrument designed to observe Solar System planets as though they are exoplanets, the Planet as Exoplanet Analog Spectrograph (PEAS). PEAS consists of a dedicated 0.5-m telescope and off-the-shelf optics, located at Lick Observatory. PEAS uses an integrating sphere to disk-integrate light from the Solar System planets, producing spatially mixed light more similar to the spectra we can obtain from exoplanets. This paper describes the general system design and early results of the PEAS instrument.
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