FLITECAM and HIPO instruments in FLIPO configuration (NASA/SOFIA)
First Light Infrared Test Experiment CAMera (FLITECAM)
Facility-class Science Instrument
Principal Investigator:
Ian McLean
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
FLITECAM was an infrared camera operating in the 1.0 - 5.5 μm waveband. It consisted of a 1024x1024 InSb detector with 0.475''x0.475'' pixels and used refractive optics to provide an 8' diameter field of view. The instrument had a set of filters for imaging, and grisms for moderate resolution spectroscopy. The filter suite consisted of standard Barr filters used for imaging at J, H, K, L and M in one filter wheel. A second filter wheel held a selection of narrow-band imaging filters including Pa-α, Pa-α continuum, 3.07 μm H2O ice, 3.3 μm PAH, L-narrow and M-narrow. Additionally there were order sorting filters for use with the grisms. A selection of three grisms was available to provide medium resolution (R ≈ 1500) spectra over the entire wavelength range.
FLITECAM could be co-mounted with the High Speed Imaging Photometer for Occultations (HIPO) providing simultaneous optical and near-infrared imaging for transient events. Effective February 2018, NASA retired FLITECAM and HIPO.
References
Smith & McLean, "Grism spectroscopy with FLITECAM," Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy, Ian S. McLean & Masanori Iye, Editors, Proc. SPIE 6269, 62691I (2006), DOI: 10.1117/12.672174
McLean et al., "FLITECAM: a 1-5 micron camera and spectrometer for SOFIA," Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy, Ian S. McLean & Masanori Iye, Editors, Proc. SPIE 6269, 62695B (2006), DOI: 10.1117/12.672173 [ pdf ]
Mainzer et al., "Characterization of FLITECAM: the first light camera for SOFIA," Airborne Telescope Systems II, Ramsey K. Melugin & Hans-Peter Roeser, Editors, Proc. SPIE 4857, 21 (2003), DOI: 10.1117/12.458635 [ pdf ]
Smith & McLean, "Ground-based commissioning of FLITECAM," Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy II, Ian S. McLean & Mark M. Casali, Editors, Proc. SPIE 7014, 701411 (2008), DOI: 10.1117/12.788693 [ pdf ]
