The SED Machine - Fast classification of transient objects

Abstract

The field of time-domain astronomy is expected to enjoy a golden age during this decade. However, the traditional method for the classification of transient candidates using spectra obtained with medium- to large-aperture telescopes is extremely time consuming and struggling to keep up with the discovery rate. The Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) Machine uses a new approach in order to overcome this shortcoming. It employs a lenslet-based Integral-Field Unit (IFU) with a Field-of-View (FoV) of 26"x 26" and 3,600 hexagonal ~ 0.675" spaxels, as well as a 4-colour Rainbow Camera (RC) for flux calibration. The nearly constant resolution of R≈100 over an extremely wide wavelength range 360-980 nm is sufficient to effectively classify transients. Using off-the-shelf CCD cameras the costs of the instrument are moderate. The SED Machine is currently being tested on the Palomar 60-inch (P60) telescope.

Additional details