SARG (Spettrografo ad Alta Risoluzione per Galileo) is a cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph in operation at the Italian National Telescope Galileo (TNG). The instrument covers the spectral range from 370 to 900 nm with a spectral resolution R=46,000 for 1 arcsec slit. A maximum resolution R=144,000 can be obtained with the use of an image slicer. A polarization analyzer is also available.

The PI of the instrument is Raffaele Gratton of INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (OAPD). The INAF Institutes which participated in the construction of SARG are: Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (OAPD), Osservatorio Astrofisisico di Catania (OACT), Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste (OATS) and Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo (OAPA).

SARG was installed at the Nasmyth focus B of TNG at Roque de Los Muchachos in the island of La Palma (Canary Islands) in June 2000 and has been offered to the general community since the beginning of 2001. The Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo has participated in the development of SARG by providing the CCD controllers, the CCD slit viewer, the motor controllers and the mechanical structure of the Peltier cell. OAPA has also participated in the scientific definition of SARG through Roberto Pallavicini who chaired the SARG Science Team from 1993 to commissioning. Researchers from OAPA are observing regularly with SARG to determine lithium and other element abundances of late-type stars in galactic open clusters.

Technical information on the SARG spectrograph can be found at the official SARG web sites at Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (www.pd.astro.it/sarg) and at TNG (www.tng.iac.es)

last update: 2004, 24 Feb