The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer Book 2018

(Abridged) This is the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer 2018 book. It is intended as a concise reference guide to all aspects of the scientific and technical design of MSE, for the international astronomy and engineering communities, and related agencies. The current version is a status report of MSE's science goals and their practical implementation, following the System Conceptual Design Review, held in January 2018. MSE is a planned 10-m class, wide-field, optical and near-infrared facility, designed to enable transformative science, while filling a critical missing gap in the emerging international network of large-scale astronomical facilities. MSE is completely dedicated to multi-object spectroscopy of samples of between thousands and millions of astrophysical objects. It will lead the world in this arena, due to its unique design capabilities: it will boast a large (11.25 m) aperture and wide (1.52 sq. degree) field of view; it will have the capabilities to observe at a wide range of spectral resolutions, from R2500 to R40,000, with massive multiplexing (4332 spectra per exposure, with all spectral resolutions available at all times), and an on-target observing efficiency of more than 80%. MSE will unveil the composition and dynamics of the faint Universe and is designed to excel at precision studies of faint astrophysical phenomena. It will also provide critical follow-up for multi-wavelength imaging surveys, such as those of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Gaia, Euclid, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, the Square Kilometre Array, and the Next Generation Very Large Array.Comment: 5 chapters, 160 pages, 107 figure

Implementation of an unshielded SQUID as a geomagnetic sensor

International audienceThe fluxgate magnetometer has long been the standard instrument of magnetic observatories due to its ease of use and sensitivity in the nanotesla range. Recently more sensitive magnetic sensors have become a requirement to study in particular the interaction between earthquakes and the ionosphere. The Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) is capable of detecting magnetic flux in the femtotesla range and is well suited for detecting these interactions. Traditionally however, these devices have not been used to study the ionosphere due to shielding requirements. The Laboratoire Souterrain a Bas Bruit (LSBB) in France employs a low critical temperature (Low-Tc) SQUID for geomagnetic research, but it is placed in a unique low noise environment, 500 meters underground, that makes it impractical for other observatories to replicate. In this work, we implemented a completely unshielded high-Tc SQUID system at a magnetic observatory to complement fluxgate measurements. Here we discuss the implementation of the 3-axis SQUID magnetometer from an engineering perspective, including hut and rig design, placement, data acquisition, noise measurements, and possible future developments