MANIFEST is a facility multi-object fibre system for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT).
MANIFEST will consist of hundreds of Starbug robots that patrol the GMT field of view and feed currently planned optical spectrographs (high resolution GCLEF and medium resolution GMACS) and future spectrographs (possibly including infrared spectrographs). MANIFEST will have multiple fibre configurations, ranging from single fibres to multiple integral-field units to single integral-field-units.
The MANIFEST instrument aims to enhance the functionality of the GMT spectrographs by offering capabilities such as:
- increasing the field of view
- increased multiplex capability
- multiple deployable IFUs
- increased spectral resolution and/or wavelength coverage via image-slicing
- the opportunity for simultaneous observation with multiple instruments
- the possibility of a gravity-invariant spectrograph mounting
- the potential for OH suppression via fibre systems in the near-infrared
- the versatility of adding new instruments in the future.
