The Spectrometer
CHIRON is a highly stable fiber-fed cross-dispersed echelle spectrometer. Multiple slit modes allow for spectral resolutions of 130,000, 95,000, 80,000, and 25,000. CHIRON observes light in the wavelenght range of 440 - 880 n.m, and can observe targets as faint as about V = 12. An iodine cell can be placed in the optical path of the instrument if desired, making high-precision radial velocity measurements possible.
Although developed by the Fischer Exoplanet Group to find earth mass planets using the radial velocity method, CHIRON has been used for diverse science cases. Recently, CHIRON has been used to reveal stellar companions, provide time resolved spectra of cataclysmic novae and X-Ray binaries, and map the interstellar medium.
For full technical specifications and a guide to signal to noise calculations, an in-depth description of the instrument can be found here.