Hanle echelle spectrograph: design and performance

Hanle echelle spectrograph (HESP) is a high resolution, bench mounted, fiber-fed spectrograph at visible wavelengths. The instrument was recently installed at the 2m Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT), located at Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO), Hanle at an altitude of 4500m. The telescope and the spectrograph are operated remotely from Bangalore,(∼ 3200km from Hanle), through a dedicated satellite link. HESP was designed and built by Kiwi Star Optics, Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand. The spectrograph has two spectral resolution modes (R=30000 and 60000). The low resolution mode uses a 100 micron fiber as a input slit and the high resolution mode is achieved using an image slicer. An R2 echelle grating, along with two cross dispersing prisms provide a continuous wavelength coverage between 350-1000nm. The spectrograph is enclosed in a thermally controlled environment and provides a stability of 200m/s during a night. A simultaneous thorium-argon calibration provides a radial velocity precision of 20m/s. Here, we present a design overview, performance and commissioning of the spectrograph.