Near-infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopy with the Infrared Camera (IRC) for AKARI

The Infrared Camera (IRC) is one of the two instruments on board the AKARI satellite. In addition to deep imaging from 1.8 to 26.5 mu m for the pointed observation mode of the AKARI, it has a spectroscopic capability in its spectral range. By replacing the imaging filters by transmission-type dispersers on the filter wheels, it provides low-resolution (lambda/delta lambda similar to 20-120) spectroscopy with slits, or in a wide imaging field-of-view (approximately 10' x 10'). The IRC spectroscopic mode is unique for space infrared missions in that it has the capability to perform sensitive wide-field spectroscopic surveys in the near- and mid-infrared wavelength ranges. This paper describes the specifications of the IRC spectrograph and its in-orbit performance.