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A.H. Szentgyorgyi, J.G. Geary, D.W. Latham, L.T. Groner, S. Amato, K. Bennett, E.E. Falco, W.A. Peters, M.P. Ordway, R.G. Fata (CfA)
KeplerCam is a wide-field CCD camera constructed at SAO to provide multi-band photometry for the Kepler Input Catalog. It utilizes one of the largest CCD imagers commercially available, the Fairchild CCD486. When mounted on the 1.2-m telescope at the Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, the 4096 X 4096 format provides a field 23.1 arcmin square at 0.338 arcsec per 15-micron pixel. The focal plane of the 1.2-m telescope is flattened with a fused silica Fabricant-Epps doublet corrector that provides extremely low field distortion and superb throughput into the ultraviolet. The four output amplifiers are read out in unison at 200 kHz; the total of readout time and instrument overhead is 11 seconds when binned 2 X 2. Noise performance, quantum efficiency, and linearity of the system are excellent, and the device is nearly cosmetically perfect. The cryogenic focal plane is supported by an athermal hexapod that optimizes mechanical stability and thermal isolation simultaneously. KeplerCam is dedicated to the 1.2-m telescope and serves a wide user community at CfA in addition to its major role in the preparation of the Kepler Input Catalog. Support from the Kepler mission is gratefully acknowledged.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.