The SAURON project - I. The panoramic integral-field spectrograph
Emsellem, Eric; Miller, Bryan W.; Carollo, C. M.; Peletier, Reynier F.; Copin, Y.; Davies, Roger L.; de Zeeuw, P. Tim; Kuntschner, Harald; Bacon, R.; Bureau, M.; Monnet, G.; Verolme, E. K.; Allington-Smith, J. R.
France, Netherlands, Germany, Chile, United Kingdom, United States
Abstract
A new integral-field spectrograph, SAURON, is described. It is based on the TIGER principle, and uses a lenslet array. SAURON has a large field of view and high throughput, and allows simultaneous sky subtraction. Its design is optimized for studies of the stellar kinematics, gas kinematics, and line-strength distributions of nearby early-type galaxies. The instrument design and specifications are described, as well as the extensive analysis software which was developed to obtain fully calibrated spectra, and the associated kinematic and line-strength measurements. A companion paper will report on the first results obtained with SAURON on the William Herschel Telescope.