Rahmer, Gustavo and Smith, Roger and Velur, Viswa and Hale, David and Law, Nicholas and Bui, Khanh and Petrie, Hal and Dekany, Richard (2008) The 12Kx8K CCD mosaic camera for the Palomar Transient Factory. In: Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II. Proceedings of SPIE. No.7014. Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers , Bellingham, WA, Art. No. 70144Y. ISBN 9780819472243. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20131209-130654629
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Abstract
The Palomar Transient Factory is an automated wide-field survey facility dedicated to identifying a wide range of transient phenomena. Typically, a new 7.5 square degree field will be acquired every 90 seconds with 66% observing efficiency, in g' band when the sky is dark, or in R band when the moon is up. An imaging camera with a 12Kx8K mosaic of MIT/LL CCDs, acquired from CFHT, is being repackaged to fit in the prime focus mounting hub of the Palomar 48-inch Oschin Schmidt Telescope. We discuss how we have addressed the broad range of issues presented by this application: faster CCD readout to improve observing efficiency, a new cooling system to fit within the constrained space, a low impact shutter to maintain reliability at the fast observing cadence, a new filter exchange mechanism, and the field flattener needed to correct for focal plane curvature. The most critical issue was the tight focal plane alignment and co-planarity requirements created by the fast beam and coarse plate scale. We built an optical profilometer system to measure CCDs heights and tilts with 1 μm RMS accuracy.
| Item Type: | Book Section | |||||||||
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| Additional Information: | © 2008 SPIE. | |||||||||
| Group: | Palomar Transient Factory | |||||||||
| Subject Keywords: | CCD, mosaic, wide-field survey, transients | |||||||||
| Series Name: | Proceedings of SPIE | |||||||||
| Issue or Number: | 7014 | |||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1117/12.788086 | |||||||||
| Record Number: | CaltechAUTHORS:20131209-130654629 | |||||||||
| Persistent URL: | https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20131209-130654629 | |||||||||
| Official Citation: | Gustavo Rahmer ; Roger Smith ; Viswa Velur ; David Hale ; Nicholas Law ; Khanh Bui ; Hal Petrie ; Richard Dekany; The 12K×8K CCD mosaic camera for the Palomar Transient Factory. Proc. SPIE 7014, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II, 70144Y (July 11, 2008); doi:10.1117/12.788086 | |||||||||
| Usage Policy: | No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided. | |||||||||
| ID Code: | 42904 | |||||||||
| Collection: | CaltechAUTHORS | |||||||||
| Deposited By: | Tony Diaz | |||||||||
| Deposited On: | 10 Dec 2013 19:58 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 10 Nov 2021 16:30 |
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