Abstract
We describe an astronomical camera for the 200-in. Hale telescope using four 800 multiplied by 800 Texas Instruments CCDs in an optical arrangement that allows imaging of a contiguous 1600-pixel-square region of sky. The system employs reimaging optics to yield a scale of 0. 33 arcsec per pixel, a good match to the best seeing conditions at Palomar Observatory. Modern high-efficiency coatings are used in the complex optical system to yield a throughput at peak efficiency of nearly 50% (including the losses in the telescope), corresponding to a quantum efficiency on the sky of about 30%. The system uses a fifth CCD in a Spectroscopic channel, and it is possible to obtain simultaneous imaging and spectroscopic observations with the system. The camera may also be used in a scanning mode, in which the telescope tracking rate is offset, and the charge is clocked in the chips in such a manner as to keep the charge image aligned with the optical image. In this way, a survey for high-redshift quasars has been carried out over a large area of sky.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 779-787 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Optical Engineering |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1987 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- General Engineering