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FIRE is a cryogenic infrared spectrometer on an Auxiliary Nasmyth port of the 6.5 meter Magellan-Baade Telescope. It delivers continuous spectra of R=6000 at 0.8-2.5 microns in an echelle format spanning 21 orders of a reflective diffraction grating.
FIRE was built to study objects in the very early universe, whose light is redshifted from UV or optical wavelengths in their reference frame into the near-IR as seen on earth, because of Hubble expansion. It has been used to study quasars at redshifts approaching the Epoch of Reionization, when light from galaxies re-ionized hydrogen atoms that had existed in their neutral state since the time that the cosmic background radiation decoupled from matter, near z=1100. As a versatile facility instrument at Magellan, FIRE has also been used to observe low-mass brown dwarf stars (including the first Y-dwarf, and Trappist-1), cooling radiation from galaxy clusters, nebular emission lines in high- and low-redshift galaxies, supernovae, and many other phemomena. It has provided observations for >100 scientific papers which have been collectively cited over 2000 times.
Rob Simcoe was the PI for FIRE, and the instrument was built in our lab at the MIT-Kavli Institute. The program was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, with generous additional support from Curtis and Kathleen Marble and the MIT Department of Physics.
FIRE open before going into cold vacuum; Rob shown in stylish bonnet for scale.
Alignment of the spectrograph camera lens barrel. The alignment must be preserved as components shrink into position at operating temperature of 80K. All optical mounts are designed with compliance to avoid shattering glass components during cooldown.
Cross-dispersion between FIRE's diffraction orders is achieved using prisms of infrared-grade fused silica, and ZnSe
Laser alignment of FIRE's Offner Relay, which baffles warm thermal emission from the telescope. The lightweighed aluminum optical bench is suspended in a thermal vacuum chamber during operation.
Installation of FIRE on the Magellan Baade Telescope.
FIRE instrument webpage (for observers and non-astronomers)