| Name: Ravinder Banyal |
| Affiliation: Indian Institute of Astrophsyics |
| Conference ID: ASI2026_895 |
| Title: SCALES at Keck: Instrument Overview and Indian Contribution |
| Abstract Type: Poster |
| Abstract Category: Facilities, Technologies and Data science |
| Author(s) and Co-Author(s) with Affiliation: Ravinder K. Banyal(Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore - 560034, India), Arun Surya(Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore - 560034, India), Amirul Hasan(Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore - 560034, India), P. Madan Mohan Kemkar(Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore - 560034, India), T. Sivarani(Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore - 560034, India) |
| Abstract: Direct imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanets require instruments capable of suppressing stellar glare while capturing faint planetary emission at infrared wavelengths. SCALES (Slicer Combined with Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy) is a next-generation, high-contrast instrument being developed for the Keck II 10-m telescope, optimized for diffraction-limited imaging and integral-field spectroscopy in the 2–5 µm range. By targeting the thermal emission of young and wide-orbit exoplanets, SCALES will enable detailed atmospheric characterization beyond the reach of existing near-infrared instruments.
SCALES uniquely combines a coronagraphic integral field spectrograph and imaging channel that employs both a lenslet array and an image slicer, offering complementary low- and medium-resolution spectroscopic modes. The instrument is fully cryogenic, with an all-reflective optical design to minimize thermal background and maximize sensitivity in the thermal infrared.
The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is a partner institute in the SCALES collaboration and has contributed several key hardware subsystems. These include the thermal-infrared imaging channel, pupil-mask rotator, and the filter-wheel assemblies for both the spectrograph and imager, all of which were designed, fabricated, and assembled at IIA to meet stringent cryogenic and opto-mechanical requirements. In this poster, I will present an overview of the SCALES with particular focus on the design, implementation, and integration of the IIA-developed subsystems, and their role in enabling SCALES’ scientific capabilities. |
