The MAIA camera
MAIA (Mercator Advanced Imager for Asteroseismology) is a 3-channel optical imager that is currently being built at the Instituut voor Sterrenkunde. MAIA will offer simultaneous observations in three colour bands (SDSS u, g and r+i bands) over a wide field of view and with very short cycle times. This camera particularly targets the asteroseismology of hot sub-dwarf stars but a broad range of applications can benefit from the enhanced imaging capabilities that it will bring to the Mercator telescope.
The MAIA design is based on 3 large frame-transfer CCD detectors that were originally built for ESA's cancelled Eddington space mission. The Instituut voor Sterrenkunde received these CCDs on loan from ESA with the condition that they are used for science related to asteroseismology, the original objective of Eddington. MAIA is primarily designed for installation on the 1.2-m Mercator telescope at the Roque De Los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain) but its design also foresees deployment at larger telescopes, albeit with a decreased field of view. Instrument commissioning is planned to take place in Spring 2012.
MAIA specifications
Cut-off wavelengths | u: 395 nm g: 570 nm r+i: 870 nm |
Field of view | 9.4 x 14.1 arcmin |
Sampling | 0.275 arcsec/pixel |
Detector | e2v CCD42-C0, 2048 x 6144 pixels, frame transfer T = -113ºC (closed-cycle mechanical cooling) Multiple windowing and binning |
Collimator focal length | 232 mm (f/12) |
Camera focal length (3x) | 160 mm (f/8.25) |
Image quality | < 0.33 arcsec |
Estimated efficiency (telescope throughput not included) | u: 77% g: 73% r+i: 69% |
Guiding camera | Full field, on-axis, z-band |
People involved
Jeroen Vandersteen, Steven Bloemen, Florian Merges, Johan Morren, Roy Oestensen, Jesus Perez Padilla, Wim Pessemier, Saskia Prins, Gert Raskin, Hans Van Winckel
Related links
