Wendelstein 3KK

The three channel optical-near-infrared imager 3kk has been developed and build in our group to serve for simultaneous imaging records of a selected science target in a blue, red, and infrared band. Project manager was F. Lang-Bardl. Typical science applications are e.g. the monitoring of variable sources in three bands to obtain colour information like needed for a secure classification of exo-planet candidates (see below/link) or so-called photo-redshifts where multiple band observations of a galaxy compared to standard spectral energy distribution enable the determination of its redshift and thus distance.

The telescope light passes two custom-designed beam splitters that send the light into a blue arm, into a red one, and into a near-infrared one. This beam splitter system is designed to keep the full imaging quality (SPIE 3kk 2010). The blue and the red beam are both equipped with Bonn shutters (Reif et al. 2007), followed by filter wheels, and Fairchild-2k optical CCD cameras (Apogee). For more details see the table below.

The NIR camera is built in cooperation with the IfA in Hawaii. It is build around an HAWAII-2RG 2k * 2k detector and a SIDECAR ASIC detector control system, operated at 80 K. The camera housing is designed as a dewar cooled with liquid nitrogen which is produced by a facility at the observatory. The infrared camera operates without shutter, is coupled by reimaging optics, and includes a cold stop and a cold filter wheel. For more details see the table below. A full design description can be found in our SPIE 2016 contribution.

Three-channel imager at the Wendelstein 2-m Telescope (3KK)