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Session 9 - SOFIA and IR Instrumentation.
Display session, Wednesday, January 07
Exhibit Hall,
Many infrared sources are dusty. Abosrption of starlight typically heats the dust grains to temperatures of tens or hundreds of Kelvin where they radiate most of their energy in the far infrared, at wavelengths of 40-300 microns which are inaccessible from the ground. Imagery in this spectral range with the highest possible spatial resolution is the natural starting point from which to develop an understanding of source energetics and morphology. Since SOFIA is the largest far infrared telescope, it will have the best intrinsic angular resolution. HAWC (High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera) will be a faclity camera for SOFIA which will cover the 40-300 micron spectral range with three bands centered at 60, 110, and 200 microns at an image scale of two pixels per Airy disk (FWHM). Its detector will be a 12x32 array of micromachined silicon pop-up bolometers, operated at a temperature of 0.3 K. HAWC's goal is to provide a sensitive versatile, and reliable FSI capability for SOFIA's user community during its first operational years.
