Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Meixner, Margaret
• Smee, Stephen
• Doering, Ryan L.
• Barkhouser, Robert H.
• Miller, Todd
• Orndorff, Joseph
• Knezek, Patricia
• Churchwell, Ed
• Scharfstein, Gregg
• Percival, Jeffrey W.
• Mills, David
• Corson, Charles
• Joyce, Richard R.

Titel

Design Overview and Performance of the WIYN1High Resolution Infrared Camera (WHIRC)

Ist Teil von

• Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2010-04, Vol.122 (890), p.451-469

Ort / Verlag

University of Chicago Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2010

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We present the design overview and on-telescope performance of the WIYN High Resolution Infrared Camera (WHIRC). As a dedicated near-infrared (0.8–2.5 μm) camera on the WIYN Tip-Tilt Module (WTTM) port, WHIRC can provide near-diffraction-limited imaging with an FWHM of∼0.25′′ ∼ 0.25 ′ ′ at K s K s with active WTTM correction and does deliver typical imaging with an FWHM of∼0.6′′ ∼ 0.6 ′ ′ without WTTM. WHIRC uses a2048 × 2048 2048 × 2048 HgCdTe array from Raytheon’s VIRGO line, which has been developed for the VISTA project. The WHIRC filter complement includesJ,H, K s K s , and 10 narrowband filters. WHIRC’s compact design makes it the smallest near-infrared camera with this capability. We determine a gain of3.3 ± 0.2 e- ADU-1 3.3 ± 0.2     e -   ADU - 1 via a photon transfer analysis and a readout noise of∼19 e- ∼ 19     e - . A measured dark current of0.13 e- s-1 0.13     e -   s - 1 indicates that the cryostat is extremely light tight. A plate scale of0.099′′ × 0.10′′ pixel-1 0.099 ′ ′ × 0.10 ′ ′     pixel - 1 results in a field of view (FOV) of3.3′ × 3.4′ 3.3 ′ × 3.4 ′ , which is a compromise between the highest angular resolution achievable and the largest FOV correctable by WTTM. Measured throughput values (∼0.27 ± 0.02 ∼ 0.27 ± 0.02 in H H band) are consistent with those predicted for WHIRC based on an analysis of individual optical elements and detector quantum efficiency (QE). WHIRC’s photometric quality is better than∼0.02 ∼ 0.02 magnitudes in all bands. WHIRC is a general use instrument at the WIYN telescope enabling high-definition near-infrared imaging studies of a wide range of astronomical phenomena including star formation regions, stellar populations, and interstellar medium in nearby galaxies, high- z z galaxies, and transient phenomena.