MuSCAT: a multicolor simultaneous camera for studying atmospheres of transiting exoplanets

Norio Narita; Akihiko Fukui; Nobuhiko Kusakabe; Masahiro Onitsuka; Tsuguru Ryu; Kenshi Yanagisawa; Hideyuki Izumiura; Motohide Tamura; Tomoyasu Yamamuro

doi:10.1117/1.JATIS.1.4.045001

27 August 2015 MuSCAT: a multicolor simultaneous camera for studying atmospheres of transiting exoplanets

Norio Narita, Akihiko Fukui, Nobuhiko Kusakabe, Masahiro Onitsuka, Tsuguru Ryu, Kenshi Yanagisawa, Hideyuki Izumiura, Motohide Tamura, Tomoyasu Yamamuro

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Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, Vol. 1, Issue 4, 045001 (August 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.1.4.045001

Abstract

We report a development of a multicolor simultaneous camera for the 188-cm telescope at Okayama Astrophysical Observatory in Japan. The instrument, named MuSCAT (Multicolor Simultaneous Camera for studying Atmospheres of Transiting exoplanets), has a capability of three-color simultaneous imaging in optical wavelengths where CCDs are sensitive. MuSCAT is equipped with three 1024 × 1024 pixel CCDs which can be controlled independently. The three CCDs detect lights in g₂′ (400 to 550 nm), r₂′ (550 to 700 nm), and z_s,₂ (820 to 920 nm) bands using Astrodon Photometrics Generation 2 Sloan filters. The field of view of MuSCAT is 6.1×6.1 arc min² with the pixel scale of 0.358 arc sec/pixel. The principal purpose of MuSCAT is to perform high-precision multicolor transit photometry. For this purpose, MuSCAT has the capability of self-autoguiding which enables it to fix the positions of stellar images within ∼1 pixel. We demonstrate relative photometric precisions of 0.101%, 0.074%, and 0.076% in g₂′, r₂′, and z_s,₂ bands, respectively, for GJ 436 (magnitudes in g′=11.81, r′=10.08, and z′=8.66) with 30-s exposures. The achieved precisions meet our objective, and the instrument is ready for operation.

Narita, Fukui, Kusakabe, Onitsuka, Ryu, Yanagisawa, Izumiura, Tamura, and Yamamuro: MuSCAT: a multicolor simultaneous camera for studying atmospheres of transiting exoplanets

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Norio Narita, Akihiko Fukui, Nobuhiko Kusakabe, Masahiro Onitsuka, Tsuguru Ryu, Kenshi Yanagisawa, Hideyuki Izumiura, Motohide Tamura, and Tomoyasu Yamamuro "MuSCAT: a multicolor simultaneous camera for studying atmospheres of transiting exoplanets," Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 1(4), 045001 (27 August 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.1.4.045001

Published: 27 August 2015

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