Current Activities of TIFR Infrared Group Plans

Current Activities of TIFR Infrared Group & Plans for Near Future Swarna Kanti Ghosh, Bhaswati Mookerjea, Devendra Ojha Scientific and Technical Staff : S L D’Costa, M B Naik, S S Poojary, P Sandimani, C B Bakalkar, G S Meshram, D M Patkar, R B Jadhav

Central Research Theme The study of Interstellar Medium (ISM) in relation to Star Formation in our Galaxy and nearby galaxies - Properties of interstellar dust and gas - Multi-wavelength studies

Current Research Activities Far Infrared (FIR) studies: High angular resolution (~ 1') mapping of Galactic Star Forming Regions (GSFRs) using TIFR 100 cm balloon borne telescope (from TIFR Balloon Facility, Hyderabad) * * in two FIR bands (150 & 210 m ) * * in astrophysically important [C II] line at 158 m using Fabry Perot Spectrometer, FPS (TIFR – Japan collaboration) * *

Current Research Activities cont…. Near Infrared (NIR), Optical & Radio continuum studies of GSFRs (Ground-based) : Using NIR imager (including TIFR 1 - 5 µm camera: TIRCAM) * * Optical imagers / spectrometers from various ground based telescopes at the National observatories (at Mount Abu, Hanle, Nainital; GMRT) * * H 2 (1 -0)S 1 – rotational-vibrational line of molecular hydrogen (2. 12 µm) (shocked gas) * * Br – hydrogen recombination line (2. 16 µm) (Ionized gas) H , [S II], [O III], … narrow-band imaging: Ionized/shocked emission Optical spectroscopy: Ionizing source(s), Embedded PMS stars, Nebular characteristics Slitless Spectroscopy Surveys: Search for H emission stars of T Tauri and related types (TTSs) as well as of Herbig-Haro objects

Current Research Activities cont…. • International facilities (through competitive, peerreviewed observing proposals and archival databases): VLT, UKIRT, SUBARU, SPITZER, MSX, ISO, AKARI, JCMT • Numerical modelling: - Radiative transfer; - UIB emission from the MSX & Spitzer bands; - Model of stellar population synthesis of the Galaxy

In Near Future…. . NIR imager for 2 meter Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT), Hanle (Ladakh) TIRCAM-II Upgradation of TIRCAM-I A large format NIR array (Aladdin III quadrant In. Sb 512 x 512 pixels; 1 - 5 µm) has been procured from Raytheon, USA, to upgrade the TIRCAM-I (58 x 62 pixels). * * * The upgradation work is nearly complete for the NIR imaging (PAH, nb. L’, M-band) beyond 2 µm with 2 meter HCT in Hanle, Ladakh (altitude ~ 4, 517 meter) *

Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSPEC) for Large Aperture Indian Telescopes (Dtel ≥ 2 meter) Plan to develop a NIR spectrometer (with imaging capabilities) based on 1024 x 1024 Hg. Cd. Te focal plane array (Rockwell HAWAII-I 1 K PACE detector) for use with large aperture (Dtel 2 meter) ground-based Indian telescopes

NIRSPEC (General Specifications): Optical Feeds : ARIES, Nainital 3. 6 meter (by 2012) * Optical design f#9 FOV 6. 8 arcminutes Pixel size ~0. 4 arcseconds Imaging : 1 - 2. 5 microns Filters : J, H, K, H 2, Br Gamma, Kcont, CO, [Fe II] & few others Spectroscopic mode : Resolving power of 1, 000 to 3, 000 Slit width of 0. 8 and 1. 2 pixels Slit length > 4 arcminutes Two Grisms (JH & HK wavelength range)

Sub-mm Astronomy from Hanle (Ladakh); Time sharing in large telescopes (e. g. , UKIRT, Gemini) ?

Thank You !

TIFR 100 cm Balloon Borne Far Infrared Telescope (on Launch Arm) “T 100” payload Primary : 100 cm aluminium ; Mass ~ 850 Kg No. of launches : 20 Final map resolution ~ 1. 0 arc min (@ 200 m)

@ 0. 3 K

RCW 106 Southern Galactic star forming region Distance ~ 3. 6 kpc 23 discrete COLD sources (M ≥ 15 Msun) TIFR - 150 μm TIFR - 210 μm Dust emission in far infrared T 150/210 ~ 1. 2 deg 2 Spatial distribution of dust temperature & optical depth T ~ 20 - 40 K Peak optical depth ~ 0. 10

Fabry Perot Spectrometer (FPS) ISAS (Institute of Space & Astronautical Science, Japan) Tuned to [CII] line at 157. 7 µm Detector – Stressed Ge: Ga Photoconductor Spectral Resolution – ~1700 (175 km/s) Spectral Range – 157. 41 µm to 158. 57 µm Spatial Resolution -- 1. 4’ Detection Limit – 3 x 10 -5 ergs s-1 cm-2 sr-1

Far Infrared Spectroscopic mapping of Orion-A ( [C II] line at 158 m – most efficient coolant of the interstellar gas at ~ 100 K )

TIFR NEAR INFRARED CAMERA (SBRC 58 x 62 In. Sb FPA)

Fabry Perot Spectrometer (FPS) (developed at ISAS, Japan & adapted for T 100) Spectral Resolution (R) ~ 1700 Spectral scanning range ~ 63. 2 – 63. 5 cm^-1 (157. 4 m – 158. 2 m) Stressed Ge: Ga photoconductor (Spectral Response) Basic configuration of the FPS Scanning Fabry Perot

Spatial distribution of Dust Temperature , etc TIFR FIR 130 and 200 μm maps probe the cold dust T ~ 34 K (assuming λ λ-2) IRAS-HIRES 12 and 25 μm maps have been used to obtain T(12/25) and 25 (assuming λ λ-1) T(12/25) Isotherms are 100, 110, 125, 135, 140, 150, 170 K 25 Contours are 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 95% of peak optical depth (0. 001)

Radio emission from ionised gas IRAS 19111+1048 GMRT - 1280 MHz IRAS 19110+1045 8 5 11 16 20 15 18 12 9 13 19 17 Date of Observation Synthesized beam noise in map Phase calibrators 10 1 4 3 26 14 2 28 Oct'01 7. 5” x 3. 8” 0. 8 m. Jy/bm 2011 -067 23 24 6 7 - 25 27 Primary beam - 26. 1’ Position angle - -34. 4 o Cont. Bandwidth - 16 21 22

Results from radiative transfer modeling IRAS 19111+1048 IRAS 19110+1045

512 x 512 In. Sb Array (Aladdin III quadrant)

TIRCAM-II : Preparation for MUX installation

TIRCAM-II (with MUX)

(Another view …)

(on the launch field …)

TIFR Balloon Facility, Hyderabad

(Another view of the TIFR Balloon Facility) (High ceiling lab. to house T 100; S-band telemetry antenna)

Balloon filling (with Hydrogen gas) in progress …

The launch …. .

A few seconds after the launch …