Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) is a scientific instrument for infrared astronomy, installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), operating from 1997 to 1999, and from 2002 to the present.

NICMOS was conceived and designed by the NICMOS Instrument Definition Team centered at Steward Observatory, University of Arizona. NICMOS is an imager and spectrometer built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. that allows the HST to observe infrared light, with wavelengths between 0.8 and 2.4 micrometers, providing imaging and slitless spectrophotometric capabilities. NICMOS contains three near-infrared detectors in three optical channels providing high (~ 0.1 arcsecond) resolution, coronagraphic and polarimetric imaging, and slitless spectroscopy in 11, 19, and 52 arcsecond square fields of view. Each optical channel contains a 256x256 pixel photodiode array of Hg_0.554Cd_0.446Te infrared detectors bonded to a sapphire substrate, read out in four independent 128x128 quadrants.

NICMOS was installed on Hubble during its second servicing mission in 1997 along with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, replacing two earlier instruments.

When conducting infrared measurements, it is necessary to keep the infrared detectors cooled to avoid having infrared interference from the instrument's own thermal emissions. NICMOS contains a cryogenic dewar, that cooled its detectors to ~ 61 kelvins, and optical filters to ~ 105 K, with a block of solid nitrogen ice. When NICMOS was installed in 1997, the dewar flask contained a 230 pound (104 kg) block of nitrogen ice. Due to a thermal short that arose on March 4, 1997 during the instrument commissioning, the dewar ran out of nitrogen coolant sooner than expected in January, 1999. During Hubble Service Mission 3B in 2002, a cryocooler and external radiator were installed on the Hubble that now cools NICMOS through a cryogenic neon loop. NICMOS was returned to service soon after SM 3B, and continues in operation today.

[edit] See also

• Calnic C
• NICMOSlook

[edit] External links

• NICMOS at ESA/Hubble
• Images taken with NICMOS at ESA/Hubble
• Technical information from Steward Observatory's instrument team

v • d • e Hubble Space Telescope Associated Shuttle missions Launch STS-31 Servicing STS-61 · STS-82 · STS-103 · STS-109 Planned STS-125 Onboard instruments Current Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) · Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) · Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) · Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) · Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) · Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) Planned Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) · Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) Previous Faint Object Camera (FOC) · Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) · Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS/HRS) · High Speed Photometer (HSP) · Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC) Italics indicate instruments that are currently failed and/or shut-down