Enhanced Performance for the IMACS F/4 Camera Upgrade

位于智利的华盛顿卡内基研究所拉斯坎帕纳斯天文台的麦哲伦巴德6.5米望远镜的仪器正在升级。该仪器名为IMACS（Inamori-Magellan Arial Camera Spectrograph），其相机中的原始CCD探测器将被更新的技术设备所取代。新的CCD将提供更好的吞吐量，更高的信噪比，并提高分辨率比以前的芯片，并将导致显着的效率，在使用望远镜的时间。 在订购新的CCD的过程中，天文台了解到探测器的新改进将大大提高CCD在可观测光谱的蓝端和红端的响应能力。一种相对较新的CCD技术，称为“深度耗尽”，显着提高了在红色端的响应，新的抗反射涂层可以添加到这些设备，以提高在蓝色的响应。 这种组合将增加科学和发现能力，特别是通过实现远红外中钙三重态和镁I线的中间分辨率（~ 10，000 = R = ~ 20，000）光谱学。 这一能力将用于研究附近星系中恒星的化学组成和运动学，外部星系中球状星团的化学组成，以及我们银河系凸出部分中矮星的化学组成。这些增强型CCD的资金由NSF天文科学部的RAPID赠款提供。

An upgrade is underway for an instrument on the Magellan Baade 6.5-meter telescope at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The instrument, called IMACS (Inamori-Magellan Arial Camera & Spectrograph) will have the original CCD detectors in its camera replaced with newer technology devices. The new CCDs will provide better throughput, higher signal-to-noise, and increased resolution than the previous chips and will result in significant efficiencies in the use of telescope time. During the process of ordering the new CCDs the Observatory was made aware of a new enhancement to the detectors that would considerably increase the CCDs responsiveness at both the blue and red ends of the observable spectrum. A relatively new CCD technology called "deep-depletion" significantly improves the response at the red end and new anti-reflection coatings can be added to these devices to improve the response in the blue. This combination will add increased science and discovery capability in particular by enabling intermediate resolution (~10,000 = R = ~20,000) spectroscopy of the Calcium triplet and Magnesium I lines in the far-red. This capability will be used to study the chemical composition and kinematics of stars in nearby galaxies, the chemical composition of globular clusters in external galaxies, and the chemical composition of dwarf stars in the bulge of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Funds for these enhanced CCDs are being provided through a RAPID grant by NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences.