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A Microshutter-Based Field Selector for JWST's Near Infared SpectrographOne of the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) primary science goals is to characterize the epoch of galaxy formation in the universe and observe the first galaxies and clusters of galaxies. This goal requires multi-band imaging and spectroscopic data in the near infrared portion of the spectrum for large numbers of very faint galaxies. Because such objects are sparse on the sky at the JWST resolution, a multi-object spectrograph is necessary to efficiently carry out the required observations. We have developed a fully programmable microshutter array that will be used as the field selector for the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on JWST. This device allows slits to be opened at the locations of selected galaxies in the field of view while blocking other unwanted light from the sky background and bright sources. In practice, greater than 100 objects within the field of view will be observed simultaneously. In this paper, we describe the microshutter arrays, their development, fabrication, testing, and progress toward delivery of flight qualified devices to the NIRSpec instrument team in 2008.
Document ID
20080039160
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Silvergerg, Rorbert F. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Arendt, Richard (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Franz, David (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Jhabvala, Murzy (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Kletetschka, Gunther (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Kutyrev, Alexander (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Li, Mary (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Moseley, Samuel H. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Rapchun, David (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Snodgrass, Stephen (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Sohl, David (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Spa, Leroy (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
August 26, 2007
Subject Category
Astronomy
Meeting Information
Meeting: SPIE 2007
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: August 26, 2007
End Date: August 30, 2007
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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