The VIRUS2 instrument is a new fiber-fed multiplexed integral field spectrograph consisting of 6 units, each with 4 spectral channels, to provide large on-sky area coverage coupled with broad spectral coverage. VIRUS2 will be a new facility instrument on the McDonald Observatory 2.7 m Harlan J Smith Telescope with 2.33 arcminute field of view and 2.5 arcsecond sampling. The instrument employs a novel beam-switch module within the fiber feed to split the light into the 4 spectral channels covering 370-930 nm at R~2000, while achieving a very compact and highly stable instrument. The design of VIRUS2 emphasizes stability and careful calibration, with scrambling in the beam-switch module, compact spectrograph format, and tight thermal control. This is the first time such measures have been employed at moderate spectral resolution. In this paper, we provide an overview of the instrument and the build status of the 24 spectrographs, detector system, integral field units, and telescope interface. VIRUS2 is funded by NSF and deployment is planned in 2023.
|