A fiber-optics dissector for spectroscopy of nebulosities around quasars and similar objects

Abstract

It is noted that to extract optimally the available spectroscopic information in nebulosities of quasars, two-dimensional spatial resolution is required and that this can be conveniently achieved by an image dissector device using fiber optics. The prototype used in the test, which has more than 200 fibers of 100 micron diameter and 100 mm length, transforms a hexagonal field into a straight line which constitutes the entrance slit of the spectrograph. On the basis of comparisons with classical slit spectra of the same object, it is concluded that such devices, coupled to adequate spectrographs and detectors, could yield reliable data on the structure of quasars' nebulosities or other faint objects with moderate extent.