The Infrared Camera (IRC) for AKARI: in-flight imaging performance and the post cryogen mission

Takehiko Wada; Takashi Onaka; Hideo Matsuhara; Naofumi Fujishiro; Hideaki Fujiwara; Daisuke Ishihara; Yoshifusa Ita; Hirokazu Kataza; Woojung Kim; Toshio Matsumoto; Hiroshi Murakami; Youichi Ohyama; Shinki Oyabu; Itsuki Sakon; Toshihiko Tanabé; Tsutomu Tange; Toshinobu Takagi; Satoshi Takita; Kazunori Uemizu; Munetaka Ueno; Fumihiko Usui; Hidenori Watarai; Martin Cohen; Keigo Enya; Takafumi Ootsubo; Chris P. Pearson; Norihide Takeyama; Tomoyasu Yamamuro; Yuji Ikeda

doi:10.1117/12.789472

12 July 2008 The Infrared Camera (IRC) for AKARI: in-flight imaging performance and the post cryogen mission

Takehiko Wada, Takashi Onaka, Hideo Matsuhara, Naofumi Fujishiro, Hideaki Fujiwara, Daisuke Ishihara, Yoshifusa Ita, Hirokazu Kataza, Woojung Kim, Toshio Matsumoto, Hiroshi Murakami, Youichi Ohyama, Shinki Oyabu, Itsuki Sakon, Toshihiko Tanabé, Tsutomu Tange, Toshinobu Takagi, Satoshi Takita, Kazunori Uemizu, Munetaka Ueno, Fumihiko Usui, Hidenori Watarai, Martin Cohen, Keigo Enya, Takafumi Ootsubo, Chris P. Pearson, Norihide Takeyama, Tomoyasu Yamamuro, Yuji Ikeda

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7010, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter; 70100C (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789472
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

The Infrared Camera (IRC) is one of two focal-plane instruments on the AKARI satellite. It is designed for wide-field deep imaging and low-resolution spectroscopy in the near- to mid-infrared (1.8-26.5 micron) in the pointed observation mode of AKARI. The IRC is also operated in the survey mode to make an All-Sky Survey at 9 and 18 microns. The IRC is composed of three channels. The NIR channel (1.8-5.5 micron) employs a 512x412 InSb photodiode array, whereas both the MIR-S (4.6-13.4 micron) and MIR-L (12.6-26.5 micron) channels use 256x256 Si:As impurity band conduction (IBC) arrays. Each of the three channels has a field-ofview of approximately 10x10 arcmin., and they are operated simultaneously. The NIR and MIR-S channels share the same field-of-view by virtue of a beam splitter. The MIR-L observes the sky about 25 arcmin. away from the NIR/MIR-S field-of-view. The in-flight performance of the IRC has been confirmed to be in agreement with the pre-flight expectation. More than 4000 pointed observations dedicated for the IRC are successfully completed, and more than 90% of the sky are covered by the all-sky survey before the exhaustion of the Akari's cryogen. The focal-plane instruments are currently cooled by the mechanical cooler and only the NIR channel is still working properly. Brief introduction, in-flight performance and scientific highlights from the IRC cool mission, together with the result of performance test in the warm mission, are presented.

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Takehiko Wada, Takashi Onaka, Hideo Matsuhara, Naofumi Fujishiro, Hideaki Fujiwara, Daisuke Ishihara, Yoshifusa Ita, Hirokazu Kataza, Woojung Kim, Toshio Matsumoto, Hiroshi Murakami, Youichi Ohyama, Shinki Oyabu, Itsuki Sakon, Toshihiko Tanabé, Tsutomu Tange, Toshinobu Takagi, Satoshi Takita, Kazunori Uemizu, Munetaka Ueno, Fumihiko Usui, Hidenori Watarai, Martin Cohen, Keigo Enya, Takafumi Ootsubo, Chris P. Pearson, Norihide Takeyama, Tomoyasu Yamamuro, and Yuji Ikeda "The Infrared Camera (IRC) for AKARI: in-flight imaging performance and the post cryogen mission", Proc. SPIE 7010, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter, 70100C (12 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789472

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