CONICA: Coude near-infrared camera for the ESO VLT

Rainer Lenzen

doi:10.1117/12.158718

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20 October 1993 CONICA: Coude near-infrared camera for the ESO VLT

Rainer Lenzen

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Proceedings Volume 1946, Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation; (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.158718
Event: Optical Engineering and Photonics in Aerospace Sensing, 1993, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

The Coude focus of the first VLT 8 m-telescope unit will be equipped with a high resolution near-infrared camera (CONICA). This multimode instrument will be specialized in making use of the high spatial resolution offered by the Adaptive Optics System of the VLT. It is being developed by the Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie (Heidelberg), the Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik (Garching) and the Osservatorio Astronomico de Torino (Italy). CONICA will provide the operation of two detector arrays, one for low background application between 1 and 2.6 micrometers and a second one which is sensitive in the whole 1 - 5 micrometers region but will be used mainly in the thermal near infrared. The pixel size is adapted to diffraction limited resolution (between 10 mas and 100 mas per pixel) by variable camera magnifications. The various observational modes of polarimetry (Wollaston prisms, wiregrid analyzer), low resolution spectroscopy (grisms) and coronographic masking techniques can be combined independently with speckle application or the use of the Adaptive Optics System.

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Rainer Lenzen "CONICA: Coude near-infrared camera for the ESO VLT", Proc. SPIE 1946, Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation, (20 October 1993); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.158718

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