Calibration at elevation of the WEAVE fibre positioner

Hughes, Sarah; Dalton, Gavin; Dee, Kevin; Abrams, Don Carlos; Middleton, Kevin; Lewis, Ian; Terrett, David; Aguerri, Alfonso L.; Balcells, Marc; Bishop, Georgia; Bonifacio, Piercarlo; Carrasco, Esperanza; Trager, Scott C.; Vallenari, Antonella
Bibliographical reference

Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX

Advertised on:
8
2022
Number of authors
14
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
WEAVE is the new wide-field spectroscopy facility1,2,3 for the prime focus of the William Herschel Telescope in La Palma, Spain. Its fibre positioner is essential for the accurate placement of the spectrograph's 960 fibre multiplex. We provide an overview of the recent maintenance, flexure modifications, and calibration measurements conducted at the observatory prior to the final top-end assembly. This work ensures that we have a complete understanding of the positioner's behaviour as it changes orientation during observations. All fibre systems have been inspected and repaired, and the tumbler structure contains new clamps to stiffen both the internal beam and the retractor support disk onto which the field plates attach. We present the updated metrology procedures4 and results that will be verified on-sky