AMICA: the Antarctic Mid-Infrared CAmera for the IRAIT telescope

E-ISSN： 1638-1963|14|issue|337-342

ISSN： 1633-4760

Source： EAS Publications Series, Vol.14, Iss.issue, 2010-03, pp. : 337-342

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Abstract

We report a preliminary study of the main focal plane instrumentfor the IRAIT telescope, currently being built atINAF-Astronomical Observatory of Teramo. The basic requirementsare those of a remotely-controlled camera aimed to perform 10- and20-μm photometry from Dome-C in the standard bandpasses N andQ. Starting from the site properties and the science goals, themain components of AMICA (Antarctic Mid-Infrared CAmera) aredescribed: a Si:As BIB array detector, sensitive in the range 2–28 μm; a fully reflective optical design; a cryostat modified inorder to work at the extreme environmental conditions of theantarctic plateau; a cryocooler maintaining the operatingtemperature of 4.2 K without external intervention; an automatizedand flexible control electronics. AMICA is designed to fully exploit the unique mid-infrared observing conditions at Dome-C.