SpecTel: A 10-12 meter class Spectroscopic Survey Telescope
Richard Ellis, Kyle Dawson, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Roland Bacon, Adam, Bolton, Malcolm Bremer, Jarle Brinchmann, Kevin Bundy, Charlie Conroy,, Bernard Delabre, Arjun Dey, Alex Drlica-Wagner, Jenny Greene, Luigi Guzzo,, Jennifer Johnson, Alexie Leauthaud, Khee-Gan Lee

TL;DR
SpecTel is a proposed 11.4-meter class spectroscopic survey telescope designed for massively-multiplexed observations, enabling extensive scientific exploration across Galactic, extragalactic, and cosmological domains by accessing a large fraction of objects from major surveys.
Contribution
This paper presents a conceptual design for a large, multi-object spectroscopic telescope in the southern hemisphere, optimized for high multiplexing and broad wavelength coverage, which is a novel proposal compared to existing facilities.
Findings
Design feasibility using current technology
Potential to access more objects than existing facilities
Enables transformational progress in multiple astronomical fields
Abstract
We recommend a conceptual design study for a spectroscopic facility in the southern hemisphere comprising a large diameter telescope, fiber system, and spectrographs collectively optimized for massively-multiplexed spectroscopy. As a baseline, we propose an 11.4-meter aperture, optical spectroscopic survey telescope with a five square degree field of view. Using current technologies, the facility could be equipped with 15,000 robotically-controlled fibers feeding spectrographs over 360<lambda<1330 nm with options for fiber-fed spectrographs at high resolution and a panoramic IFU at a separate focus. This would enable transformational progress via its ability to access a larger fraction of objects from Gaia, LSST, Euclid, and WFIRST than any currently funded or planned spectroscopic facility. An ESO-sponsored study (arXiv:1701.01976) discussed the scientific potential in ambitious new…
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