TY - GEN
T1 - Infrared array camera for interferometry with the cophased Multiple Mirror Telescope
AU - McCarthy, D. W.
AU - McLeod, B. A.
AU - Barlow, D.
PY - 1990
Y1 - 1990
N2 - An infrared camera has been developed for interferometric imaging on large telescopes. Observations obtained with the 6.86 m aperture of the cophased Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) demonstrate the ease with which future 8 m telescopes can achieve diffraction-limited performance from 1 to 5.5 μm. With the MMT, the infrared camera has imaged astronomical sources at 3.5 μm with a diffraction-limited resolution of 0.10 arcsec. The camera uses a 58×62 pixel InSb focal plane array built by Santa Barbara Research Center (SBRC) to obtain high quantum efficiency (approximately 80%) and low readout noise (300 electrons per picture). An excess noise from the SBRC detector is related to the resetting process and can be removed through proper readout methods and data processing. Interchangeable optics, filters, an internal focal plane shutter, and a coronagraphic mask are cooled inside the dewar to reduce the thermal background. Adjustable exposures as short as 4 msec are obtained at a maximum rate of 10 Hz to freeze atmospheric turbulence. A VMEbus, 68020-based computer system digitizes and records raw data, displays data frames in real-time, and computes the coadded power spectra and object visibilities.
AB - An infrared camera has been developed for interferometric imaging on large telescopes. Observations obtained with the 6.86 m aperture of the cophased Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) demonstrate the ease with which future 8 m telescopes can achieve diffraction-limited performance from 1 to 5.5 μm. With the MMT, the infrared camera has imaged astronomical sources at 3.5 μm with a diffraction-limited resolution of 0.10 arcsec. The camera uses a 58×62 pixel InSb focal plane array built by Santa Barbara Research Center (SBRC) to obtain high quantum efficiency (approximately 80%) and low readout noise (300 electrons per picture). An excess noise from the SBRC detector is related to the resetting process and can be removed through proper readout methods and data processing. Interchangeable optics, filters, an internal focal plane shutter, and a coronagraphic mask are cooled inside the dewar to reduce the thermal background. Adjustable exposures as short as 4 msec are obtained at a maximum rate of 10 Hz to freeze atmospheric turbulence. A VMEbus, 68020-based computer system digitizes and records raw data, displays data frames in real-time, and computes the coadded power spectra and object visibilities.
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:0025589939
SN - 0819402818
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
SP - 496
EP - 507
BT - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
A2 - Breckinridge, Jim B.
PB - Publ by Int Soc for Optical Engineering
T2 - Amplitude and Intensity Spatial Interferometry
Y2 - 14 February 1990 through 16 February 1990
ER -