Skip to main content

Gaia astrometric CCDs and focal plane

Publication ,  Conference
Short, A; Hopkinson, G; Laborie, A; Pouny, P; Vetel, C; Eaton, T; Steward, R; Holland, A; Hutchinson, I; Smith, D; De Bruijne, J; Garé, P ...
Published in: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
December 1, 2005

ESA's Gaia astrometry mission is due for launch in 2011. The astrometric instrument focal plane will have an area of up to 0.5m2 and will contain more than 100 CCDs. These will be operated in Time Delay and Integration mode in order to track and observe sources whilst the telescopes continuously scan the sky. Gaia's target for astrometric precision of a few millionths of an arc second, places extreme demands on focal plane thermo-mechanical stability and electronics performance. The CCDs themselves are large area, back illuminated, full-frame, four phase devices. They require maximum efficiency for observing the majority of (faint) objects, yet must simultaneously be able to handle very bright objects that will regularly cross the field of view. Achieving the final astrometric precision will also require excellent noise performance and MTF. In addition to demanding excellent performance from each CCD, they will need to be produced in large numbers which raises production and yield issues. When analyzing Gaia data it will be essential to understand and calibrate CCD behaviour correctly, including the expected performance degradation due to radiation damage. This is being addressed through comprehensive testing and the development of CCD models.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

DOI

ISSN

0277-786X

Publication Date

December 1, 2005

Volume

5902

Start / End Page

1 / 14

Related Subject Headings

  • 5102 Atomic, molecular and optical physics
  • 4009 Electronics, sensors and digital hardware
  • 4006 Communications engineering
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Short, A., Hopkinson, G., Laborie, A., Pouny, P., Vetel, C., Eaton, T., … Zayer, I. (2005). Gaia astrometric CCDs and focal plane. In Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering (Vol. 5902, pp. 1–14). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.616999
Short, A., G. Hopkinson, A. Laborie, P. Pouny, C. Vetel, T. Eaton, R. Steward, et al. “Gaia astrometric CCDs and focal plane.” In Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, 5902:1–14, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.616999.
Short A, Hopkinson G, Laborie A, Pouny P, Vetel C, Eaton T, et al. Gaia astrometric CCDs and focal plane. In: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 2005. p. 1–14.
Short, A., et al. “Gaia astrometric CCDs and focal plane.” Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, vol. 5902, 2005, pp. 1–14. Scopus, doi:10.1117/12.616999.
Short A, Hopkinson G, Laborie A, Pouny P, Vetel C, Eaton T, Steward R, Holland A, Hutchinson I, Smith D, De Bruijne J, Garé P, Perryman M, Sarri G, Zayer I. Gaia astrometric CCDs and focal plane. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 2005. p. 1–14.

Published In

Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

DOI

ISSN

0277-786X

Publication Date

December 1, 2005

Volume

5902

Start / End Page

1 / 14

Related Subject Headings

  • 5102 Atomic, molecular and optical physics
  • 4009 Electronics, sensors and digital hardware
  • 4006 Communications engineering