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closing in on dark energy Gary J. Hill HETDEX Principal Investigator

closing in on dark energy Gary J. Hill HETDEX Principal Investigator. HET 18 months from now. The Universe is still accelerating. We still have no idea what dark energy is. …………and HETDEX is still in the lead to discover why. Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment. HETDEX is:

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closing in on dark energy Gary J. Hill HETDEX Principal Investigator

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  1. closing in on dark energy Gary J. Hill HETDEX Principal Investigator HET 18 months from now

  2. The Universe is still accelerating

  3. We still have no idea what dark energy is

  4. …………and HETDEX is still in the lead to discover why

  5. Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment HETDEX is: Upgrade of HET to have a new wide field of view Deployment of the hugely replicated spectrograph, VIRUS Execution of the largest survey ever undertaken in astronomy Will detect a million galaxies and use them to determine if there is any evolution of dark energy by looking back 11 billion years HET is the key asset Run by small consortium led by UT Nimble, low cost operation that can adapt to new challenges HET in 18 months time

  6. VIRUS on HET VIRUS consists of 75 units mounted on HET HET Mt. Fowlkes west Texas

  7. Upgrade of HET New optics and tracker will upgrade HET to view half the area of the moon at once This upgrade will allow us to complete the HETDEX survey in 3 years HETDEX survey area 2000 times the area of the moon 6/9/2010 5/6/2010

  8. Corrector mirrors at U. Arizona On schedule for March 2011 delivery M4 M5 M2 M3 6/9/2010

  9. New HET Tracker Tracker Bridge Weldment Tracker being tested at CEM - Early 2011 Carriage Strong-back Weldment 6/9/2010 5/6/2010 Hexapod Actuator in test

  10. VIRUS • Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph • Uses idea of industrial replication applied to astronomy for the first time • 150 copies of a simple spectrograph arrayed as 75 unit pairs • Huge advantages • Cost savings, schedule, low risk • VIRUS-P Prototype has proven the design and cost

  11. Views of VIRUS Detector electronics Camera Collimator Camera Cover IFU slit assembly Liquid Nitrogen detector cooling system

  12. VIRUS Production Parts • Production design is complete • Production line being set up at TAMU • First detectors in September • production start Jan 2011

  13. Fiber IFUs transmit light from the sky into the spectrographs 448 fibers each (6 miles each!) 9 IFUs already delivered Fiber Integral Field Unit production IFU input heads IFU input Assembled IFU IFU output 6/9/2010

  14. Status and Fundraising • HETDEX remains on schedule to start installing equipment on HET in summer 2011 • Go on sky with VIRUS at end 2011 • Start the 3 year survey in 2012 • 80% of $34M funding is raised • Need $6.4M • NSF award is pending • $3.4M towards VIRUS hardware • Full funding for survey phase • Hoping for final word any moment! • HETDEX is one of only three projects moving forward in the near term • BOSS and DES focus on DE in the recent past • HETDEX provides the key information about evolution of DE • HETDEX remains a nose ahead

  15. "This is a remarkable proposal, the likes of which I have not reviewed before.“ "This is exactly what is required of a successful program, and is still relatively rare in astronomy.“ "Given the extraordinary justification for carrying (out) a fundamental experiment at the forefront of observational cosmology, this project should be funded at all costs.“ “…the HETDEX project is well conceived and organized both from a science and management perspective. The team is first class." Stay tuned – the next Summer BoV meeting promises some exciting things to see!! And thank you, as always, for all your support! In reverse….. Some of our favorite NSF reviewer comments

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