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

doi:10.1117/12.926547

27 September 2012 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

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8452, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI; 845202 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926547
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

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 450 μm and 850 μm 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 850 μm in 2 hours and 60 mJy/beam rms at 450 μm in 5 hours in the best weather.

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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, and Craig A Walther "A new era of wide-field submillimetre imaging: on-sky performance of SCUBA-2", Proc. SPIE 8452, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, 845202 (27 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926547

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