Papers
2
Total Citations
6
H-Index
2
About
Kaike Pan is a key figure in astronomical instrumentation, specializing in the design, construction, and optimization of large-scale spectroscopic surveys. Their work is central to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), particularly its fifth generation (SDSS-V). Pan’s major contributions include the development and on-sky validation of a new wide-field corrector for SDSS-V, a critical three-element lens system that replaced an older design to improve infrared performance and eliminate a problematic aspherical focal surface. This work, detailed in a 2022 paper, is foundational for the survey’s ongoing success. Pan also led the challenging field retermination of high-fiber-count MTP connectors for the APOGEE spectrograph at Apache Point Observatory, documenting lessons learned and demonstrating restored throughput. While their most-cited papers currently show modest citation counts (3 each), this reflects their recent publication and the highly specialized, technical nature of the work—instrumentation papers often accrue citations slowly but have profound, long-term impact on survey capabilities. Pan’s expertise ensures that SDSS-V’s ambitious multi-object spectroscopy remains on the cutting edge.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1On-sky performance of the SDSS-V wide field corrector3 citations · 2022
- 2Field retermination of APOGEE spectrograph MTP fiber connectors3 citations · 2022