A Large-Format CCD Camera for Lowell Observatory

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The objective is the acquisition of a large-format, ultraviolet- sensitive CCD and an appropriate set of image quality filters that will enhance and extend the imaging and spectroscopic capabilities of the Lowell Observatory. For direct imaging, the detector will provide a field of view sixteen times that of the largest available detector at a 1.07-m telescope in direct imaging mode. At the Perkins 1.8-m telescope the field size will initially be increased only slightly, but there will be an order-of-magnitude gain in UV sensitivity; increased coverage will be achieved when a planned focal reducer or Newtonian focus is implemented. By virtue of its increased areal and spectral coverage, the new CCD will allow Lowell Observatory staff and visitors to undertake research that cannot at present be attempted. Among the scientific goals are: studying the blue stellar content and the interstellar medium of galaxies, determining luminosity functions and dynamical properties of open clusters in our own Galaxy, investigating properties of the interstellar medium by means of high-resolution spectroscopy of early-type stars, investigating the large-scale comatic and tail structure of comets using narrowband photometry, enhancing the discovery rate of Earth-approaching asteroids and assessing their hazard to Earth, and searching effectively for Kuiper belt objects.