Large-Aperture Grating Spectrograph Utilizing Commercial Camera Components

Abstract

A compact, large-aperture spectrograph utilizing commercially available optical components has been designed and constructed. Light is admitted through an adjustable bilateral slit and is collimated by a 300-mm f/4.5 telephoto camera lens. The dispersive element is a 102 × 102 mm, 600-lines per mm plane reflection grating with a first-order blaze at 1.0 μ. The spectrum is photographed with a single-lens reflex 35-mm camera equipped with a 75-mm f/1.5 lens. One frame covers a spectral range of approximately 8000 A with a dispersion of about 200 A/mm in the first order.