| This is an application for an extension of the infrastructure of the optical instrumentation group at ASTRON with a Fourier transform spectrometer. This group is designing and building state-of-the-art instrumentation for Dutch astronomy, e.g. instruments for the Very Large Telescopes of the European Southern Observatory in Chile. Although the instrument is of strategic importance of the group to consolidate its position in building especially infrared instrumentation, it becomes more urgent by the limited possibilitiesin the test programme for the mid-infrared spectrometer for the James Webb Space telescope. Embedded in the developments at ASTRON to enhance the cryogenic test capabilities, this instrument will equip ASTRON with a cryogenic spectrometer set-up for characterizing not only components but also parts of or even complete instruments. |
