Bibcode
Lasso Cabrera, Nestor M.; Hanna, Kevin T.; Eikenberry, Stephen S.; Charcos-Llorens, Miguel V.; Edwards, Michelle L.; Marin-Franch, A.
Bibliographical reference
Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III. Edited by McLean, Ian S.; Ramsay, Suzanne K.; Takami, Hideki. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 7735, pp. 773562-773562-12 (2010).
Advertised on:
7
2010
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
In this paper we analyze different solutions to implement a fast
photometry mode in the Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE), a
visitor-class near-IR imager, spectrograph, and polarimeter for the 10.4
meter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). The fast photometry mode will be
one of the enhanced capabilities of CIRCE that will differentiate our
instrument from similar instruments. The fast photometry capability,
along with the polarimetric and spectroscopic capabilities of the
instrument will provide a unique instrument for the study of
rapidly-varying objects. We combine the different output modes of the
HAWAII-2 2048x2048 detector, with very simple modifications in our
already built Array Controller Subsystem (MCE-3), and with modifications
in the firmware of the readout control electronics to provide the
instrument with this powerful capability. We expect to increase the
frame capture rate on the order of 5 to 14 times faster depending on the
frame size and the final solutions chosen.