This project will build on the expertise and hardware available in the Advanced Instrumentation Technology Centre at the observatory to design and deliver a compact near-infrared spectrograph for the ANU 2.3m telescope. The student will participate in a range of activities from scientific requirement development, optical design, detector focal plane characterisation and data pipeline preperation as well as developing the first science projects with the facility.

Since beginning fully autonomous operations in 2023, the ANU 2.3m telescope has demonstrated its fantastic capability as a workhorse platform for bright-source spectroscopy - providing transient repones, regular cadence monitoring and large sample triage observations using the excellent WiFeS visible light spectrograph. As we move into an era of readily available transient event detection – from the Rubin observatory at visible wavelengths and ANUs own DREAM telescope in the near-infrared – the telescope needs an infrared spectrograph to deliver full spectrum analysis.