Slicer Combined with Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy

Today we wave goodbye to the SCALES lenslit, a novel integral field unit concept for exoplanet characterisation. SCALES stands for Slicer Combined with Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy. It is unique because it combines a lenslet-based integral field unit with a slicer system, which rearranges the array of spots into a pseudo-slit. 

The instrument was designed by the University of California, Santa Cruz – A big thank you to the whole team for their long collaboration with us! It started with a conceptual design, moved into a prototype and now a full instrument for a 10-m class telescope. 

After a stop in Santa Cruz, where the system will be integrated into the huge cryostat alongside a coronagraph, an imager, and the spectrograph, it will then head to the W. M. Keck Observatory on the summit of Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaii in the United States. 

Safe journey! We are looking forward to the amazing science ahead: the detection, discovery, and characterisation of cold exoplanets in our galaxy.