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MIRI, or theMid-Infrared Instrument, is an instrument on theJames Webb Space Telescope.[1] MIRI is a camera and aspectrograph that observesmid to long infrared radiation from 5 to 28microns.[1] It also hascoronagraphs, especially for observingexoplanets.[2] Whereas most of the other instruments on Webb can see from the start of nearinfrared, or even as short as orangevisible light, MIRI can see longer wavelength light.[1]
MIRI usessilicon arrays doped witharsenic to make observations at these wavelengths.[1] The imager is designed for wide views but the spectrograph has a smaller view.[1] Because it views the longer wavelengths it needs to be cooler than the other instruments (seeInfrared astronomy), and it has an additional cooling system.[1] The cooling system for MIRI includes apulse tube precooler and aJoule-Thomson loopheat exchanger.[1] This allowed MIRI to be cooled down to a temperature of 7kelvins during operations in space.[1]
MIRI was built by the MIRI Consortium, a group that consists of scientists and engineers from 10 different European countries (the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland) with the United Kingdom heading the European consortium,[3] as well as a team from the Jet Propulsion Lab in California, and scientists from several U.S. institutions.[4][5]
The spectrograph can observe wavelengths between 4.6 and 28.6 microns, and it has four separate channels, each with its own gratings and image slicers.[2] The field of view of the spectrograph is 3.5 by 3.5arcseconds.[2]
The spectrograph is capable of low-resolution spectroscopy (LRS) with or without a slit, as well as medium-resolution spectroscopy (MRS) taken with anintegral field unit (IFU). This means that MRS with the IFU creates an image cube. Similar to other IFUs this can be compared to an image that has a spectrum for each pixel.[6]
The imager has aplate scale of 0.11 arcseconds/pixel and a field of view of 74 by 113 arcseconds.[7] Earlier in development the field of view was going to be 79 by 102 arcseconds (1.3 by 1.7arcmin).[2] The imaging channel has ten filters available and the detectors are made of arsenic-doped silicon (Si:As).[1] The detectors (one for the imager, and two for the spectrometer) each have a resolution of 1024x1024 pixels, and they are called Focal Plane Modules or FPMs.[8]
During 2013 and finishing in January 2014, MIRI was integrated into theIntegrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM).[5] MIRI successfully passed Cryo Vac 1 and Cryo Vac 2 tests as part of ISIM in the 2010s.[5]
MIRI is attached to the ISIM by acarbon-fiber and plastic hexapod structure, which attaches it to the spacecraft but also helps thermally isolate it.[1] (see alsoCarbon fiber reinforced plastic)
Parts summary:[9]
Most of MIRI is located in the main ISIM structure, however the cryocooler is in region 3 of ISIM which is located in thespacecraft bus.[10]
The imager module of MIRI also includes the Low Resolution Spectrometer that can perform long-slit andslitless spectroscopy from 5 to 12 μm light wavelength.[11] The LRS uses Ge (germanium) and ZnS (zinc sulfide) prisms to cause spectroscopic dispersion.[11]
Commissioning is complete as of the following dates:
To allow mid-infrared observations within the JWST, the MIRI instrument has an additional cooling system. It works roughly similar to how most refrigerators or an air-conditioner works: a fluid is brought down to a cold temperature in the warm section, and sent back to the cold section where it absorbs heat, then it goes back to the condenser. One source of heat is the left-over heat of the spacecraft, but another is the spacecraft's own electronics, some of which are close to the actual instruments to process data from observations. Most of the electronics are in the much warmer spacecraft bus, but some of the electronics needed to be much closer, and great lengths were taken to reduce the heat they produce. By reducing how much heat the electronics make on the cold side, less heat needs to be removed.
In this case the JWST cryocooler resides in thespacecraft bus and it has lines of coolant that run to the MIRI instrument, chilling it. The cryocooler has a heat radiator on the spacecraft bus to emit the heat it collects.[12] In this case the cooling system useshelium gas as therefrigerant.
The James Webb Space Telescope's cryocooler is based originally on the TRW ACTDP cryocooler.[12] However, the JWST has had to develop a version to handle higher thermal loads.[13] It has a multi-stagepulse tube refrigerator that chills an even more powerful cooler.[12] That is a linear-motion Oxford-style compressor that powers a J-T loop.[13] Its target is to cool the MIRI instrument down to 6 kelvins (−448.87 °F, or −267.15 °C).[12] The ISIM is at about 40 K (due to the sunshield) and there is a dedicated MIRI radiation shield beyond which the temperature is 20 K.[12] The J-T loop is aJoule–Thomson loopheat exchanger.[1]
MIRI imaging has 10 filters available for observations.[14]
MIRI Coronagraphic imaging has 4 filters available for observations.[14]
The low-resolution spectrometer (LRS) uses a double zinc sulfide/germanium (ZnS/Ge) prism. The slit mask has a filter that blocks light with a wavelength shorter than 4.5 μm. LRS covers 5 to 14 μm.[14]
The medium-resolution spectrometer (MRS) has 4 channels that are observed simultaneously. Each channel is however further divided into 3 different spectral settings (called short, medium and long). In one observation MIRI can only observe one of those three settings. An observation that aims to observe the entire spectrum has to carry out 3 separate observations of the individual settings. MRS covers 4.9 to 27.9 μm.[14]
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