SPIRou - un SpectroPolarimètre
Infra-Rouge
A Near-InfraRed Spectropolarimeter
SPIRou is a near-infrared spectropolarimeter and high-precision velocimeter being designed as a new Guest Instrument for CFHT. It will be installed
at the Cassegrain telescope focus at the end of 2017 after its construction and validation tests are performed
by the
instrument consortium.
The main
science goals of SPIRou are the search
and characterization of habitable exo-Earths around low-mass stars, and the study of the magnetic topology of
young protostars as a tool for investigating star/planet formation mechanisms.
Publications can be found
here and information for observers can be found
here.
SPIRou news
November 2017: Tests have validated the instrument performances. The decision is taken to ship the instrument to Hawaii
June 2017: Integration is over, tests are starting in the lab in Toulouse
September 2016: delivery of the spectrograph bench and cryostat from HIA to IRAP ( timelapse)
May 2016: Second Science Meeting in Nice
September 2015 to present: assembly and tests of cryostat, optics, Cassegrain unit and calibration unit
June 2015: SPIRou Assembly and Integration Review in Toulouse
April 2015: SPIRou guide camera tested on sky at CFHT
January 2015: SPIRou construction starts
September 2014: Science meeting in Paris
May 2014: opening of the SPIRou web site
April 2014: final design review for SPIRou, successfully passed in Toulouse
January 23, 2014: the SPIRou project presented in the comics
"Le Journal de SPIRou" (in French)
January 16, 2014: progress meeting and pre-FDR review for SPIRou
November, 5 2013: SPIRou has been chosen as a Guest Instrument and funded by CFHT
October 2012: SPIRou Preliminary Design Review at CFHT
June 2011: Kick-off meeting in Paris
October 2010: SPIRou CoDR at CFHT
