During 2020, IFAE has been supporting LAM in the integration and testing of the FWA inside the NISP system. All this work has concluded in the delivery of NISP to ESA/AIRBUS in the middle of the year, where the complete instrument is being integrated inside the Euclid Satellite. The NISP-FWA is the first ever flight hardware for space built and qualified at IFAE.
On another front, the group has started activities inside the Euclid consortium to exploit the data and contribute to the scientific output of the mission. The activities have been more focused in the analysis of the PAU data with Machine Learning techniques, where we have made studies on star-galaxy separation, background prediction and Photometric redshift measurements with deep learning techniques. We have also joined the new Machine Learning Working group in Euclid to start exporting these techniques to this survey. Additionally, Cristobal Padilla is the chair of the Euclid Speaker’s Bureau and activities to build the software infrastructure to serve the consortium in this area have started within IFAE.
ASTEROID is an H2020 project aiming at enabling Europe to acquire the technology and knowledge necessary to manufacture 2k^2 high performance Infrared Focal Plane Arrays, define the types of products to design and define the strategy to create an industrial manufacturing line of these detectors. IFAE is partnering with companies and institutions in France and Austria to develop a low noise and low dark current detector that will be directly useful for astronomy application in both ground telescopes (ESO) or space telescopes (ESA).
IFAE’s responsibility is in the optical and electrical characterisation of the detector. During 2020, we have commissioned the equipment used and modified for Euclid GSE to perform the thermal cycles needed in a controlled and secured way. The system has reached a relative temperature error of 0.5 mK. At the same time we have also integrated all the optical elements needed for the detector characterisation. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) New Generation Controller (NGC) for the test of the Infrared Sensors has been delivered and started its commissioning, waiting for the delivery of the Lynred detectors.
This project will allow IFAE to acquire the know-how in characterizing IR sensors for Astronomy and Space and establishes a possible link of future collaboration with other ESO missions and their world-class telescopes located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. More information can be found in asteroidh2020.eu , maintained by IFAE as communication responsible of the project.