Mid-infrared spectrometer and camera for the Origins Space Telescope

Abstract

The mid-infrared spectrometer and camera transit spectrometer (MISC-T) is one of the three baseline instruments for Origins Space Telescope (Origins) and provides the capability to assess the habitability of nearby exoplanets and search for signs of life. MISC-T employs a densified pupil optical design, and HgCdTe and Si:As detector arrays. This optical design allows the instrument to be relatively insensitive to minor line-of-sight pointing drifts and telescope aberrations, and the detectors do not require a sub-Kelvin refrigerator. MISC-T has three science spectral channels that share the same field-of-view by means of beam splitters, and all channels are operated simultaneously to cover the full spectral range from 2.8 to 20 μm at once with exquisite stability and precision (<5 ppm between 2.8 to 11 μm, <20 ppm between 11 and 20 μm). A Lyot-coronagraph-based tip–tilt sensor located in the instrument fore-optics uses the light reflected by a field stop, which corresponds to 0.3% of the light from the target, to send fine pointing information to the field steering mirror in the Origins telescope. An additional MISC Wide Field Imager (WFI) is studied as an upscope option for the Origins. MISC-WFI offers a wide field imaging (3 ′ × 3 ′ ) and low-resolution spectroscopic capability with filters and grating-prisms (grisms) covering 5 to 28 μm. The imaging capability of the MISC-WFI will be used for general science objectives. The low-resolution spectroscopic capability in MISC-WFI with a resolving power R ( = λ / Δλ) of a few hundreds will be used to measure the mid-infrared dust features and ionic lines at z up to ∼1 in the Origins mission’s Rise of Metals and Black Hole Feedback programs. The MISC-WFI also serves as a focal plane pointing and guiding instrument for the observatory, including when the MISC-T channel is performing its exoplanet spectroscopy observations.