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ANU media release

First light achieved by astronomy instrument

The multi-million dollar hi-tech telescope instrument designed by Mt Stromlo Observatory at ANU has seen ‘first light’ after it was sent to Hawaii’s Gemini North telescope in August.

The Near-infrared Integral-Field Spectrograph (NIFS) was attached to the Gemini North 8.1 metre telescope on 11 October. Following tests, it recorded its first data yesterday Australian Eastern Standard Time (Tuesday, 18 October in Hawaii). The data provided spectral information that was then turned into an image.

NIFS Project Manager Mr Jan van Harmelen, who is at Gemini Observatory with NIFS Project Scientist, Dr Peter McGregor, both of ANU, said the first test of NIFS looking into space was very successful.

“It was just too easy! As a result of great preparation work by the Gemini and ANU NIFS team, we just pointed the telescope at a star and it came in right in the centre of the NIFS field. A spectrum was taken and a reconstructed image extracted,” Mr van Harmelen said.

Dr McGregor said: “It is a great relief to see NIFS produce scientific data. It bodes well for future use of the instrument.

“This is another beginning for NIFS, and thanks to the great work and support of ANU, Auspace and Gemini, it worked perfectly from the word go.”

NIFS uses a unique optical design to analyse the light from an object allowing astronomers to study phenomena in detail, including the gravitational effects of black holes, the interactions of colliding galaxies, and the formation and death of stars.

The original NIFS was destroyed in the January 2003 bushfires. NIFS-2 has been rebuilt by the Canberra-based aerospace company, Auspace Ltd, in collaboration with Mt Stromlo designers and engineers.

NIFS is part of the ANU contribution to the Australian Astronomy Major National Research Facility, supported in part by the Department of Science Education and Training.

The Director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Professor Penny Sackett, said the news of NIFS successful first observation had been a buzz for staff, and that congratulations were pouring in from around the world.

“The NIFS journey has been a long one, but the fruits of that labour are now very tangible, with the successful first ‘astronomical observation’ by NIFS,” Professor Sackett said.

“The staff of RSAA are extremely pleased about the news that the operation to put NIFS on Gemini North went smoothly, and we are looking forward to some of the best data of distant cosmic objects, provided by NIFS, to contribute to our already world-class research projects.”

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