PISCES: A wide-field, 1-2.5 μm camera for large-aperture telescopes

Wide-field-of-view infrared cameras, operating on the new generation of large telescopes, offer unprecedented gains in the detection of faint sources and in observing efficiency for both direct imaging and spectroscopy. With a 1024 × 1024 pixel, 1-2.5 μm detector, the PISCES camera provides 8′.5 and 3′.16 fields at the 2.3 m Bok telescope and 6.5 m Multiple Mirror Telescope, respectively. Its refractive optics utilize all spherical surfaces and standard glasses. A cold pupil stop suppresses the thermal background produced by the emissive surfaces normally present in Cassegrain optical configurations. The optical design is directly extendable to wider fields with larger detector formats. Future upgrades include low-resolution (R = 200-500) multiobject spectroscopy.