Medusa Fiber Optic Spectrograph Demonstrated

Astronomers John Hill and Roger Angel at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory demonstrated the Medusa Spectrograph, using optical fibers for simultaneous multi-object spectroscopy. The device channeled light from 32 separate celestial objects in a telescope's field of view into a single spectrograph slit via short fiber optic cables. In its application on the 2.3-meter Bok Telescope, the Medusa measured redshifts of 26 galaxies in one exposure, producing spectra of approximately 100 galaxies per night and enabling large-scale galaxy surveys.