Information for Researchers

The Heterodyne Instrument for Planetary Wind And Composition (HIPWAC) is available for use on a collaborative basis. It is a visitor instrument at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility and at the NAOJ Subaru Telescope. HIPWAC and its sister instruments at Goddard Space Flight Center can also be used for laboratory spectroscopy.

For more information on the collaborative use of HIPWAC, contact the instrument Principal Investigator, Theodor Kostiuk, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center


Contact Information

Theodor Kostiuk
HIPWAC Principal Investigator
(301) 286-0212
Theodor.Kostiuk-1@nasa.gov


Summary of HIPWAC capabilities:

  • Highest mid-infrared spectral resolving power available
  • Fully-resolved spectral features
  • Measurement of true line shapes, probing atmospheric regions of line formation


    • Specifications:

    Wavelength

    9-12 µm, with isotopic CO2 laser local oscillators
    7-13 µm with quantum cascade laser


    Spectral Resolving Power

    λ/Δλ>106


    Back-End Spectrometer Resolution

    5-25 MHz (1.7-8.3 x 10-4 cm-1) with radio frequency filter banks
    1 MHz (0.3 x 10-4 cm-1) with acousto-optic spectrometer


    Back-End Spectrometer Bandpass
    (double-sideband)

    3.2 GHz (0.11 cm-1) with radio-frequency filter bank
    6 GHz (0.21 cm-1) with acousto-optic spectrometer


    Focal Plane Operation

    Cassegrain (IRTF)
    Nasmyth (Subaru)
    Adaptable to other facilities.


    Diffraction-Limited Field of View
    (11.7 µm)

    0.86 arcseconds at 3 meter IRTF (FWHM)
    0.37 arcseconds at 8 meter Subaru (FWHM)