PACS Instrument Description

Introduction

The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer was one of three science instruments for ESA's Herschel Space Observatory. It operated either as an imaging photometer or an integral field spectrometer over the spectral band from 57 to 210µm.

PACS was designed and built by a consortium of institutes and university departments from across Europe under the leadership of Principal Investigator Albrecht Poglitsch located at Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), Garching, Germany. Consortium members were: Austria: UVIE; Belgium: IMEC, KUL, CSL; France: CEA, OAMP; Germany: MPE, MPIA; Italy: IFSI, OAP/OAT, OAA/CAISMI, LENS, SISSA; Spain: IAC.

Visit the official home page for PACS at the Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik in Garching, Germany.

PACS Quick Facts

Download the Pocket Guide (PDF) to PACS—a flyer prepared and kept updated for venues such as AAS meetings.

• Principal Investigator: Albrect Poglitsch, Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik
• Co-Principal Investigators: Christoffel Waelkens, KU Leuven, Belgium

Instrument Control Center: PACS-ICC - operational nerve center and Project Office site at the PI institute in Garching, Germany

Imaging Capabilities:

• Simultaneous two-band (same field of view) 60-85 µm or 85-130 µm and 130-210 µm imaging
• Two filled bolometer arrays: 32x16 and 64x32 pixels
• Point source sensitivity: ~3 mJy (5-sigma limit in 1 hour)

Spectroscopy Capabilities:

• Simultaneous 57-105 µm and 105-210 µm spectroscopy
• 47" x 47" (5x5 pixels) field-of-view rearranged via an image slicer on two 16x25 Ge:Ga detector arrays
• Sensitivity: ~5x10^-18 W/m^2 (5-sigma in 1 hour)