NEFER: a new instrument for the GTC
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Description
First observational data from the new NEFER module on the GTC. Upper left: Integrated image in emission by ionized interstellar hydrogen surrounding NGC 604, a cluster of massive young stars in Local Group galaxy M33, at a distance of 2,700 million light years. Upper right, a map of the velocity structure of the gas in NGC 604 from the same "data cube". This is still preliminary; optical structure introduced by the instrument (circular arcs) has not been fully calibrated and removed. The colour bar below the figure gives the velocities in the map in km/s. Lower panel, a contour map of hydrogen emission velocity taken from a previous article on NGC 604. The red square in all three panels is the size of the field in the lower panel. We can see that NEFER produces a much deeper exposure revealing the outer structure of NGC 604, which will also be revealed in the velocity map when fully processed.