ESO MULTI-MODE INSTRUMENT: RILD MODE ==================================== Instrument Overview =================== The ESO Multi-Mode Instrument (EMMI) is a multipurpose instrument allowing observations in thevisible wavelengths. EMMI supports wide-field imaging, low-resolution multi-object or long-slit grism spectroscopy, medium-resolution long-slit grating spectroscopy, and echelle spectroscopy, using various detector modes. The RILD mode, for low-dispersion spectroscopy, is described here. Low-resolution long-slit spectroscopy is done in the RILD mode by combining one of the grisms with one of the fixed slits (starplates) and, if needed, an order-sorting filter. The grisms cannot be rotated: the achievable wavelength range is fixed for each grism. Many grisms show a second order contamination, hence the use of an order sorting filter is recommended. There are six fixed slits available, with widths of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 5 and 10 arsec, and each with a length of 8'. The 0.5 arsec slit will cause undersampling of the spectra, except when used in 1 x 1 binning mode, under exceptional seeing conditions. The orientation of the slit can be adjusted by applying an offset to the rotation angle of EMMI. Grisms and filters can also be combined to obtain slitless spectra imaged on the CCD. The use of filters in combination with a grism reduces the sky background intensity. It also selects the wavelength region of interest and limits the length of the spectrum, thus reducing crowding. The spectral coverage within this wavelength region depends on the position of the object in the field. The following table summarizes the Grisms available on EMMI and their characteristics. Grism g/mm Blaze Blaze Eff.[a] Dispersion[d] Rs[b] Wavelength range angle lambda (deg) (nm) (%) (nm/mm) (A/pix) (nm) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 150 8.6 560 79 24.5 3.68 263 385 - 1000 [c] 2 300 14.6 490 78 11.6 1.74 570 380 - 920 [c] 3 360 15.0 460 77 9.4 1.43 760 380 - 907 [c] 4 300 22.0 650 72 11.6 1.76 613 550 - 1000 5 600 34.0 530 66 5.5 0.83 1100 380 - 702 6 600 54.0 650 55 5.0 0.73 1490 575 - 867 7 150 10.8 720 80 24.0 3.62 280 490 - 1000 [c] [a] Efficiency at blaze. [b] Resolution with 1' slit at 600 nm (at central lambda for grisms 4,5 and 6) and for binning 2 [c] Second overlap occurs beyond 800 nm if not using an order-sorting filter. [d] Dispersion with 1 x 1 binning