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Contact Details

Tel.: +44 (0)116 252 3575

Email: mc323@le.ac.uk
Fax: +44 (0)116 252 2770


Department of Physics & Astronomy,
University of Leicester,
University Road,
Leicester, LE1 7RH,
United Kingdom.

 

The Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI)

 

miri.jpgmiri3.jpg

 

Left to right: MIRI Primary Structure undergoing inspection in the University’s Space Research Centre cleanroom. MIRI Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Model, developed at the University as part of the design process for the instrument.

MIRI consists of two separate channels which will provide high resolution images and high resolution spectra in the 5-28 μm band.

JWST with MIRI will be at least a hundred times more sensitive than any previous telescopes in the 5-30 µm range and will consequently make unique contributions to:

discovery of First Light after the Big Bang
assembly of galaxies: history of star formation, growth of black holes, production of heavy elements
how stars and planetary systems form
evolution of planetary systems and conditions for life

The imager subsystem consists of a filter wheel, folding optics and a solid-state infrared detector. It will be capable of providing diffraction-limited images with a pixel size of 0.1 ". The detector, (which will be provided by the US), will be a 1024 x 1024 Si:As detector array. The filter wheel will include a grism for low-resolution spectroscopy (R ~ 100 for 5-10 µm ) and various phase masks for coronography. The operational temperature of MIRI is ~7K. MIRI has overall dimensions ~1 m3 and mass ~100kg.

The spectrometer sub-system consists of an integral-field spectrometer that can provide a resolution of R ~ 3000 at 5μm and a field-of-view of 4" x 4". It will incorporate two infrared detectors, identical to the one used in the imager channel.
XROA Meetings

Local Seminars

New Results in X-ray Astronomy 2012

 (12th September 2012)

Royal Society meeting on transients across the Universe

(23-24 April 2012)

HESS meeting

(16-20th April)