Astrophysics Colloquium: Shelley Wright (UC San Diego)
Next-generation Instrumentation for Large Ground-Based Telescopes

Zoom info: https://stanford.zoom.us/j/423773826

Advances in diffraction-limited techniques on 8-10m telescopes using adaptive optics (AO) and integral field spectrographs (IFS) have led to significant scientific achievements, and are stimulating design of future instrumentation. My talk will focus on observations from current near-infrared AO instruments and the design and capabilities of AO instrumentation for W. M. Keck Observatory and the future Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). I will briefly describe a powerful survey that utilizes IFS and AO observations to reveal high-redshift quasar host galaxies, giving unique insights into the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes and massive galaxies. Numerous challenges need to be overcome in order to exploit the diffraction-limit of an extremely large telescope. I will discuss instrument design, diverse science cases, and our current efforts in the laboratory to maximize near-infrared integral field spectrograph and imager sensitivities for the first light TMT instrument IRIS and the upcoming Keck Observatory instrument Liger.