A new era of wide-field submillimetre imaging: On-sky performance of SCUBA-2

Jessica T. Dempsey, Wayne S. Holland, Antonio Chrysostomou, David S. Berry, Daniel Bintley, Edward L. Chapin, Simon C. Craig, Iain M. Coulson, Gary R. Davis, Per Friberg, Tim Jenness, Andy G. Gibb, Harriet A.L. Parsons, Douglas Scott, Holly S. Thomas, Remo P.J. Tilanus, Ian Robson, Craig A. Walther

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

SCUBA-2 is the largest submillimetre wide-field bolometric camera ever built. This 43 square arc-minute field-of-view instrument operates at two wavelengths (850 and 450 microns) and has been installed on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. SCUBA-2 has been successfully commissioned and operational for general science since October 2011. This paper presents an overview of the on-sky performance of the instrument during and since commissioning in mid-2011. The on-sky noise characteristics and NEPs of the 450μm and 850μm arrays, with average yields of approximately 3400 bolometers at each wavelength, will be shown. The observing modes of the instrument and the on-sky calibration techniques are described. The culmination of these efforts has resulted in a scientifically powerful mapping camera with sensitivities that allow a square degree of sky to be mapped to 10 mJy/beam rms at 850μm in 2 hours and 60 mJy/beam rms at 450μm in 5 hours in the best weather.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes
EventMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Duration: Jul 3 2012Jul 6 2012

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume8452
ISSN (Print)0277-786X

Other

OtherMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityAmsterdam
Period7/3/127/6/12

Keywords

  • Calibration
  • Detectors
  • Submillimetre imaging

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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