Spartan IRC Arrives

The Spartan Infrared Camera (IRC) was delivered to the SOAR facility on Cerro Pachon on 7th October. Laboratory tests performed on arrival successfully reproduced the results of similar tests carried our prior to shipping, demonstrating that the instrument arrived in good condition. Thus all is ready for initial testing on the telescope, expected to begin in mid November.

Built at Michigan State University (MSU) under the leadership of Prof. Ed Loh, the Spartan IRC is a high-angular resolution NIR camera with a spectral range from 1.0-2.5μ. Two different plate scales are provided: the f/21 channel has an FOV of 1.5 x 3.0 arcmin with a scale of 0.043 arcsec/pixel chosen to resolve the diffraction limited core of Tip-Tilt corrected images in the H and K bands; the f/12 channel offers an FOV of 2.5 x 5.0 arcmin at 0.073 arcsec/pixel.

When deployed for regular science observing, the Spartan IRC will have a focal plane consisting of four “Hawaii-II” 2048x2048 pixel HgCdTe detector arrays. Furthermore, the Spartan IRC has two filters wheels which together can hold a total of 29, 50mm diameter filters of thickness up to 15mm. The initial filter compliment consists of broadband Y, J, H and K filters (based on the MKO-NIR prescription). In addition a set of narrow-band filters purchased by Dr Cassio Leandro Barbosa of UNIVAP, Brazil, will be available to all users of Spartan; this set includes HeI (1083/10 nm), [FeII] (1644/15 nm), Cont. 1 (2045/30 nm), HeI/CIV (2070/30 nm), H2 (2121/20 nm), Cont. 2 (2140/30 nm), Br γ (2161/20 nm), Cont. 3 (2210/30 nm), and CO (2325/70 nm).

Commissioning and science verification testing of Spartan is expected to continue through the 2009A semester, with regular science use beginning in 2009B. More information about Spartan can be found at the Spartan IRC home page at MSU