A 5-18 MU-M ARRAY CAMERA FOR HIGH-BACKGROUND ASTRONOMICAL IMAGING

A new infrared array camera system using a Hughes/SBRC 58 X 62 pixel h ybrid Si:Ga array detector has been successfully applied to high-backg round 5-18-mu-m astronomical imaging observations. The off-axis reflec tive optical system minimizes thermal background loading and produces diffraction-limited images with negligible spatial distortion. The noi se equivalent flux density (NEFD) of the camera at 10-mu-m on the 3.0- m NASA/Infrared Telescope Facility with broadband (DELTA-lambda/lambda = 0.1) interference filters and 0.26 arcsec pixel is NEFD = 0.01 Jy m in-1/2 pixel-1 (1-sigma), and it operates at a frame rate of 30 Hz wit h no compromise in observational efficiency. The electronic and optica l design of the camera, its photometric characteristics, examples of o bservational results, and techniques for successful array imaging in a high-background astronomical application are discussed.