PARAS-2 precision radial velocimeter: optical and mechanical design of a fiber-fed high resolution spectrograph under vacuum and temperature control

Abstract

We present here the optical and mechanical design of a fiber-fed High-resolution spectrograph at resolution (R) = 100,000 which will be under vacuum (0.001 to 0.005 mbar) and temperature controlled environment at 25C ± 0.001C. The spectrograph will be attached to our upcoming new PRL 2.5m aperture telescope at Gurushikar, Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India. The spectrograph is named PARAS-2 after the successful operation of PARAS (PARAS-1) with our existing 1.2m aperture telescope at Gurushikar, Mount Abu since 2012 summer. The spectrograph (PARAS-2) will be operating in the range of 380nm to 690nm wavelength in a single shot using Grism as a Cross Disperser, R4 Echelle at blaze angle of 76degrees, and pupil diameter of 200 mm. We will use a combination of octagonal and circular fibers along with double scrambler and simultaneous calibration for getting down to the RV precision of 50cm/s or better (< 50cm/s). Minimum 30% time will be reserved for exoplanet work with the spectrograph on the 2.5m telescope when it becomes operational in early 2020. The overall efficiency of the whole spectrograph (Echelle, M1, M2, FM, Grism, Camera lens system, Dewar window) excluding fiber is expected to be 22.5% - 28% and 4% - 8% including optical fiber, telescope and fibertelescope interface losses.