Christoffer Fremling

With its partners, Caltech is buiding the Next Generation Palomar Spectrograph (NGPS) to replace the Double Spectrograph on the 200-inch Hale Telescope. NGPS is expected to improve optical throughput by a factor of three while also providing a gain in operational efficiency.

On these two evening, Fremling will take the first steps toward NGSP's eventual commissioning. The goal is to begin on-sky testing of the instrument's Acquisition and Guide camera. Testing of the spectrographs will begin later in the year.

Working at Cassegrain focus, a staff member sets up the blue camera on the Double Spectrograph (DBSP) in preparation for a night's observing. In service since 1982, DBSP is a medium resolution, long slit spectrograph that splits light into separate red and blue channels that may be observed similtaniously. For more than 40 years, it has been the "workhorse" instrument of the Hale Telescope. (Caltech/Palomar Observatory)