Comprehensive transient-state study for CARMENES-NIR high thermal stability

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed transient-state thermal analysis for the CARMENES-NIR spectrograph, aiming to ensure high thermal stability crucial for precise exoplanet detection around M dwarfs.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive transient-state thermal study to optimize the thermal design of the CARMENES-NIR instrument for high stability.

Findings

Thermal stability of b1 0.01K achieved within a year.

Multiple temperature-controlled rooms considered for thermal regulation.

Transient-state analysis informs optimal thermal design choices.

Abstract

CARMENES has been proposed as a next-generation instrument for the 3.5m Calar Alto Telescope. Its objective is finding habitable exoplanets around M dwarfs through radial velocity measurements (m/s level) in the near-infrared. Consequently, the NIR spectrograph is highly constraint regarding thermal/mechanical requirements. As a first approach, the thermal stability has been limited to \pm 0.01K (within year period) over a working temperature of 243K. This can be achieved by means of several temperature-controlled rooms. The options considered to minimise the complexity of the thermal design are here presented, as well as the transient-state thermal analyses realised to make the best choice.