Gaia astrometric CCDs and focal plane

Alexander Short; Gordon Hopkinson; Anouk Laborie; Pierre Pouny; Cyril Vetel; Tim Eaton; Roy Steward; Andrew Holland; Ian Hutchinson; David Smith; Jos de Bruijne; Philip Gare; Michael Perryman; Giuseppe Sarri; Igor Zayer

doi:10.1117/12.616999

25 August 2005 Gaia astrometric CCDs and focal plane

Alexander Short, Gordon Hopkinson, Anouk Laborie, Pierre Pouny, Cyril Vetel, Tim Eaton, Roy Steward, Andrew Holland, Ian Hutchinson, David Smith, Jos de Bruijne, Philip Gare, Michael Perryman, Giuseppe Sarri, Igor Zayer

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5902, Focal Plane Arrays for Space Telescopes II; 590205 (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.616999
Event: Optics and Photonics 2005, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

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.

Citation Download Citation

Alexander Short, Gordon Hopkinson, Anouk Laborie, Pierre Pouny, Cyril Vetel, Tim Eaton, Roy Steward, Andrew Holland, Ian Hutchinson, David Smith, Jos de Bruijne, Philip Gare, Michael Perryman, Giuseppe Sarri, and Igor Zayer "Gaia astrometric CCDs and focal plane", Proc. SPIE 5902, Focal Plane Arrays for Space Telescopes II, 590205 (25 August 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.616999

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available