Overview

NIFS is Gemini-North's Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrometer built by the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

NIFS provides 3D imaging spectroscopy with spectral resolving power (lambda/delta lambda) of R~5000 over a 3.0" x 3.0" image field in the Z through K-band spectral regions (0.95 to 2.40 μm). NIFS is designed to be fed by the Gemini North Adaptive Optics system, ALTAIR, hence it is possible to achieve spatially resolved spectroscopy on scales as small as 0.1" using Natural or Laser guide stars. Coronographic spectroscopy can also be performed through use of an occulting mask.

The Instrument Scientist for NIFS is Marie Lemoine-Busserolle.

Announcements

See the Status and Availability page for more news

NIFS Science Highlights

How to Use These Pages

The Gemini instrument pages first give the status of the instrument and its availability in the next semester. The information is then organized initially by instrument mode, followed by technical information necessary for writing a proposal and detailed observation planning, and then content relevant to reducing and interpreting data.

• Status and Availability: Modes available in the current and upcoming semesters; links to news items.
• Integral-Field Spectroscopy: Components of the NIFS instrument, and guidance on how best to use the instrument with and without Adaptive Optics.
• Sensitivity and Overheads: Sensitivity tables, integration time calculator, and details of observing overheads.
• Guiding Options: Guiding considerations, and wavefront sensors available for use with NIFS, including AO and non-AO observing.
• Calibration: How to calibrate NIFS observations.
• Observation Preparation: How to configure NIFS in the Observing Tool.
• Data Format and Reduction: Examples of NIFS data and links to data reduction resources.
• Documents: NIFS design documents and references.

Please see also the Near-IR Resources section, which contains generic information about observing in the near-IR with Gemini, as well as details about calibrations, standard stars etc..

NIFS on Gemini North instrument support structure. Click for larger image.