******************************************************** ** ** ** IIII NNN NN GGGGG ** ** II NNNN NN GG GG LA PALMA ** ** II NN NN NN GG ** ** II NN NN NN GG GGG INFORMATION ** ** II NN NNNN GG GG ** ** IIII NN NNN GGGGG BULLETIN ** ** ** ** ** ** DATE: 18 September 1997 ** ** NUMBER: 17 ** ** ** ******************************************************** >>>> MOSAIC CCD CAMERA FOR SEMESTER 98A <<<<< Richard McMahon Availability of 5000 x 8000 pixel Mosaic CCD Camera on WHT Announcement of Opportunity for Semester 98A The Mosaic CCD group (NAO Japan and University of Tokyo) under the auspices of the Japan-UK Ground-Based Board invites proposals for wide-field imaging observations with the NAOJ 5000 x 8000 pixel mosaic CCD camera at the William Herschel Telescope in the Spring semester 1998. The mosaic CCD camera (MCCD) is the one of largest cameras available to the astronomical community today. The camera uses 40 of 1K x 1K pixel unthinned CCDs made by TI-Japan. The 5 x 8 array has 90\% gaps between each row and column of CCD chip. Thus a sequence of 4 images are required to image a contiguous field. At the WHT prime focus, it can observe a 32.4 arcmin x 50.7 arcmin field with four shifted exposures with a pixel size of 0.2 arcsec. Recent scientific results from a 4000 x 7000 camera are described in Kashikawa et al (1995,ApJ Letters, 452, 99) . See also a paper (Sekiguchi et al, 1992, PASP, 104 ,744) describing a 2000 x 8144 early version of the camera system. Recent results obtained with the WHT in April 1996 are shown at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~rgm/mccd and links therein. How to Apply MCCD is a private instrument and owned and supported by the Mosaic CCD Group. Proposals are invited to use the MCCD for the forthcoming PATT deadline. It is envisaged that the camera may also be made available in semester 98B. Applications should be made through PATT in the normal way. Applicants should contact the UK-MCCD Project Scientist, Dr Richard McMahon(rgm@ast.cam.ac.uk) or visit the WWW page http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~rgm/mccd if they require any further information. Consultation with the UK Project Scientist prior to submission is welcome but is not a prerequisite. After submission the Tokyo MCCD team will technically assess all submitted proposals. In addition the Japan-UK Ground-Based Board may identify relevant Japanese collaborators for the successful proposals. Instrument Specifications and Sensitivities The mosaic CCD camera can be used for wide-field imaging observations at the WHT prime focus and is very well suited for observations of cluster of galaxies or any kind of surveys. The instrument was used at the WHT prime focus in Spring of 1996 for about 10 nights and worked well. The instrument specifications are listed below. * CCDs are organized in 5 x 8 array with 90\% gaps in between. Four exposures are required to complete a contiguous field by filling the gaps. Each CCD has 1K x 1K of 12 micron pixels. The picture of the camera is shown in this Figure * Spatial pixel scale 12micron pixels -- 0.20 arcsec at WHT Prime Focus. * Available color filters: The MCCD needs dedicated large 25cm x 25cm filters. Currently Johnson B, V, R, and I are available as well as narrow I (710nm to 830nm) and Z (830nm to 1100 nm). Other color filters including narrow band filters can be manufactured. The typical cost of such filters, if manufactured by an experienced Japanese company, is around US$ 10,000. * The quantum efficiency of the CCD is about 20% at 400nm, 35% at 500nm, 50% at 600-700nm, 40% at 800nm and 15% at 900nm. See WWW site for a figure showing the spectral response of CCD convolved with + B, V, R, narrow I and Z filters. * The limiting magnitude (magnitude that can be used for useful image classification ie s/n=25) is approximately 24 mag in B with 30 minutes exposure and 23 mag in V band with 30 minutes exposure based on the preliminary data analysis of 1996 spring data. Add two magnitudes to get the s/n 5 detection limits for 1arcsec seeing and a 1" radius aperture. * The readout time of whole array is 110 seconds. The entire frame data are stored in local memory and the next exposure can start immediately after the readout out. The amount of the data for one exposure is 80M byte. The camera is remotely controlled by SPARCstation2 which typically takes 3 minutes to transfer the 80M-byte data to its hard disk. It is not possible to take exposures in cycle shorter than 3 minutes because of this data-transfer. * The image data from each CCD is saved as an IRAF binary file. Typical amount of one night data ranges from 2Gbyte to 4Gbyte. Reduction Software: A suite of IRAF scripts and fortran programs have been developed to reduce and astrometrically calibrate the MCCD dataset by the UK-MCCD team. These will be made available to anyone who uses the camera. Richard McMahon rgm@ast.cam.ac.uk >>>>> WHO-IS-WHO FOR INSTRUMENT RESPONSIBILITIES ON SITE <<<<< Contact the following persons if you have queries about specific instruments (usernames@ing.iac.es are given in brackets): WHT - Chris Benn (crb) / Don Pollacco (dlp) INT - Nic Walton (naw) / John Telting (jht) JKT - John Telting (jht) / Nic Walton (naw) JKT imaging - John Telting (jht) / David Sprayberry (dspray) WHT imaging - David Sprayberry (dspray) / Don Pollacco (dlp) INT imaging - David Sprayberry (dspray) / Don Pollacco (dlp) ISIS/FOS2 - Rene' Rutten (rgmr) / Steve Smartt (sjst) AUTOFIB - Don Pollacco (dlp) / Rene' Rutten (rgmr) WYFFOS - Don Pollacco (dlp) / Rene' Rutten (rgmr) UES - Nic Walton (naw) / John Telting (jht) TAURUS - Nic Walton (naw) LDSS - John Telting (jht) / Rene' Rutten (rgmr) IDS/FOS1 - Steve Smartt (sjst) / Don Pollacco (dlp) WHIRCAM - Chris Benn (crb) GHRIL - Chris Benn (crb) ING contacts at RGO-Cambridge: Bill Martin (wlm@ast.cam.ac.uk) Vik Dhillon (vsd@ast.cam.ac.uk) >>>>> SERVICE NIGHTS COMING UP <<<<< Part or all of the following nights are available for the PATT (UK and NL) and CAT Service Scheme on the ING telescopes, subject to schedule changes: D means dark; G, grey and B, bright nights. WHT: ISIS/ Oct 2(D),18(B),Nov 9(B),13-14(B),19(B),21(G),30(D) Aux Port Dec 4(G),7(G),14(B),26(D),Jan 4(G),7(B) (Imaging)/ Jan 27(D) or UES TAURUS/UES Jan 14(B),17(B) WYFFOS/AF2 Dec 20-21(G) INT: IDS Sep 4(D),14(B),24(G), Oct 1(D),9(G),12(B),Nov 5(G),11(B), Jan 5-8(B),11(B), Prime Focus Oct 23(G),Nov 24(G),Dec 18(B),Jan 19(G) (Imaging) JKT: CCD Imaging Sep 2(D),26(G),Oct 17(B) Nov 26(D),Dec 3(D),10(B),23(G),30(D) Jan 7(B),24(D) Service requests should be for NOT more than 3 hours, including calibration. For more information on the new service scheme see ING Information Bulletin No. 14, or the announcement in Spectrum No. 12 (Dec. 1996). Use the new html fill-in form on the World-Wide Web at: http://www.ing.iac.es/service/nserviceform.html >>>>> NEXT PATT APPLICATION DEADLINE <<<<< September 30, 1997 for Semester 98A [Feb. 1 to Jul. 31, 1998]. March 31, 1998 for Semester 98B [Aug. 1 1998 to Feb. 1 1999]. >>>>> CONTACTING La Palma <<<<< La Palma can best be reached through INTERNET address: user@ing.iac.es On the WWW look for us at http:/www.ing.iac.es/ ============================================================================== This information bulletin was prepared at the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes. Distribution is by e-mail only. For free subscriptions send your Internet address to: >>>>>>>>>>>>> bulletin@ing.iac.es <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Suggestions regarding content are appreciated. ==============================================================================