Caltech HIgh-speed Multi-color camERA: a prime focus instrument for the Palomar 200-inch
CHIMERA is a high-speed, two-color, wide-field photometer, developed in collaboration by groups at Caltech and NASA JPL for deployment at the prime focus of the Palomar 200-inch telescope. The instrument is optimized for monitoring of targets varying on timescales from milliseconds to hours. Primary science includes the detection and characterization of sub-km Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) via occultation, detection of faint near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and monitoring of short duration transient and periodic sources. Examples of the latter include eclipsing binaries, flaring stars, pulsing white dwarfs, aurorae on brown dwarfs and transiting planets. CHIMERA may also play a role as a follow-up instrument for the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and eventually its successor, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF).
Fig. 1: CHIMERA MK. II mounted at prime focus
Please refer to the CHIMERA instrument paper for more details.
CHIMERA Specifications
CHIMERA is currently capable of high-speed imaging of a 5 x 5 arcminute field of view simultaneously in two bands, a blue channel (Sloan g' or u') and a red channel (Sloan r', i' or z'). CHIMERA uses two EMCCDs with 1024x1024 pixels, allowing high-speed (10 MHz readout) imaging in each band with very low read noise (< 1 e- with EM gain applied). In the current version, the blue side and red side are divided by a dichroic beam splitter with reflectance and transmittance curves meeting at ~567 nm.
| Parameters | Blue Camera | Red Camera |
|---|---|---|
| Pixel Scale | 0.28''/pix | 0.28''/pix |
| Field of View (FOV) | 5' x 5' | 5' x 5' |
| Filters | Sloan g' and u' | Sloan r', i' and z' |
| Detector Noise | ~6e- using the conventional amplifier (at 1 MHz readout rate) < 1e- effective read noise using the EM amplifier with EM gain applied |
~6e- using the conventional amplifier (at 1 MHz readout rate) < 1e- effective read noise using the EM amplifier with EM gain applied |
| Frame Rate | 8.7 frames/sec 1kx1k 17.4 frames/sec binned 2x2 up to 1000 frames/sec windowed |
8.7 frames/sec 1kx1k 17.4 frames/sec binned 2x2 up to 1000 frames/sec windowed |
Note: The CHIMERA team can provide read noise performance as a function of horizontal read out rate and pre-amplification gain on request.
Fig. 2: CHIMERA MK. II mechanical design
Fig. 3: CHIMERA MK. II 'first light' image of the Crab Nebula
A 40 Hz movie of the primary CHIMERA KBO science field, M22, delivered during the commissioning run of CHIMERA in July 2014
Software
Python routines are developed to reduce CHIMERA images and generate first look data products. This data processing and analysis pipeline can be downloaded from github.Contact the CHIMERA team
If you wish to contact the CHIMERA team for more information, you can reach the Principal Investigator here: gh@astro.caltech.edu, or the Instrument Scientist here: Leon.K.Harding@jpl.nasa.gov. Other group members are listed on the left of the webpage (top).
CHIMERA Principal Investigator
- Gregg Hallinan (Caltech)
- Contact: gh@astro.caltech.edu
CHIMERA Instrument Scientist
- Leon K. Harding (JPL)
- Contact: Leon.K.Harding@jpl.nasa.gov
Other CHIMERA Team Members
- Navtej Singh (Caltech)
- Michael Shao (JPL)
- Jagmit Sandhu (JPL)
- Jennifer Milburn (Caltech)
- Paul Gardner (Caltech)
- Nick Konidaris (Caltech)
- Hilke Schlichting (MIT)