The Palomar Transient Factory Survey Camera: first year performance and results

Creators: Law, N. M.; Dekany, R. G.; Rahmer, G.; Hale, D.; Smith, R.; Quimby, R.; Ofek, E. O.; Kasliwal, M.; Zolkower, J.; Velur, V.; Henning, J.; Bui, K.; McKenna, D.; Nugent, P.; Jacobsen, J.; Walters, R.; Bloom, J.; Surace, J.; Grillmair, C.; Laher, R.; Mattingly, S.; Kulkarni, S.

Others:: McLean, Ian S.; Ramsay, Suzanne K.; Takami, Hideki

Abstract

The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) is a new fully-automated, wide-field survey conducting a systematic exploration of the optical transient sky. The transient survey is performed using a new 8.1 square degree, 101 megapixel camera installed on the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. The PTF Camera achieved first light at the end of 2008, completed commissioning in July 2009, and is now in routine science operations. The camera is based on the CFH12K camera, and was extensively modified for use on the 48-inch telescope. A field-flattening curved window was installed, the cooling system was re-engineered and upgraded to closed-cycle, custom shutter and filter exchanger mechanisms were added, new custom control software was written, and many other modifications were made. We here describe the performance of these new systems during the first year of Palomar Transient Factory operations, including a detailed and long term on-sky performance characterization. We also describe lessons learned during the construction and commissioning of the upgraded camera, the photometric and astrometric precision currently achieved with the PTF camera, and briefly summarize the first supernova results from the PTF survey.

Additional Information

© 2010 Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). We particularly thank the Palomar staff for all their help during the design, setup and operation of the PTF Camera. This paper is based on observations obtained with the Samuel Oschin Telescope as part of the Palomar Transient Factory project, a scientific collaboration between the California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Las Cumbres Observatory, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, the University of Oxford, and the Weizmann Institute of Science. SRK and his group were partially supported by the NSF grant AST-0507734.

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