Instrumentation
 

UdeC Observatory

 

The Meade 12-inch telescope uses a SBIG ST7-E CCD detector controlled by a PC in the neighbouring control room. This allows you to obtain digital images of the sky in multiple filters (B,V,R,I).

 
   

CCD Specifications

CCD

Kodak KAF-0402ME
+ TI TC-237

Pixel Array

765 x 510 pixels, 6.9 x 4.6 mm

Total Pixels

390,000

Pixel Size

9 x 9 microns

Full Well Capacity (ABG)

~50,000 e-

Full Well Capacity (NABG)

~100,000 e-

Dark Current

1e¯/pixel/sec at 0° C

Antiblooming

KAF-0402ME is NABG only
ABG optional (KAF-0402LE)

 

Readout Specifications

Shutter

Electromechanical

Exposure

0.11 to 3600 seconds, 10ms
resolution

Correlated Double Sampling

Yes

A/D Converter

16 bits

A/D Gain

2.6e¯/ADU

Read Noise

15e¯ RMS

Binning Modes

1 x 1, 2 x 2, 3 x 3

Pixel Digitization Rate

Up to 420,000
pixels per second

Full Frame Acquisition

~1 second

 

Also the observatory has a LHIRES III spectrograph. Its spectral resolution can be modified. The standard version uses a grating of 2400 lines/mm, giving a resolution of R=17,000. In combination with the CCD camera SBIG ST7-E, the spectral range is approximately 80A with a scattering of ~ 0.12A/pixel. Included in the spectrograph, is a neon comparison lamp for wavelength calibration of spectra.

Department of Astronomy- Universidad de Concepción - Casilla (P.O. box) 160 - C - Concepción - Chile