Operational modes and efficiency of SOXS

TL;DR

This paper discusses the operational modes and efficiency testing of SOXS, a high-efficiency spectrograph designed for broad spectral coverage, detailing its design, subsystems, and laboratory testing plans.

Contribution

It presents the design, operational modes, and planned efficiency evaluation methods for SOXS, a new spectrograph for the NTT telescope.

Findings

SOXS achieves a mean Resolution-Slit product of ~4500.

The instrument includes three scientific arms and a Common Path system.

Laboratory test plans are outlined for efficiency evaluation.

Abstract

Son of X-Shooter (SOXS) will be a high-efficiency spectrograph with a mean Resolution-Slit product of $\sim 4500$ over the entire band capable of simultaneously observing the complete spectral range 350-2000 nm. It consists of three scientific arms (the UV-VIS Spectrograph, the NIR Spectrograph, and the Acquisition Camera) connected by the Common Path system to the NTT, and the Calibration Unit. The Common Path is the backbone of the instrument and the interface to the NTT Nasmyth focus flange. The instrument project went through the Final Design Review in 2018 and is currently in Assembly Integration and test (AIT) Phase. This paper outlines the observing modes of SOXS and the efficiency of each subsystem and the laboratory test plan to evaluate it.