Created 06/10/04 by EF
Updated 01/12/05 by EFWe have adapted the MMT's Minicam to the 1.2m, as a first step toward a permanent replacement of the venerable 4shooter. It covers approximately the same area on the sky as 4shooter, with a very similar pixel scale. The high quality of its chips makes it an excellent first alternative to the eventual replacement, Keplercam .
Ted Groner (with help from Steve Amato) wrote the necessary software, which will be used with Keplercam as well. Andy Szentgyorgyi had the lead in Cambridge in the fabrication of the necessary mechanical fittings for the 1.2m.
There is little difference to the observer in the way Minicam is operated compared to 4shooter. However, its images show a marked improvement over 4shooter images. It consists of 2 rectangular frames rather than 4 square ones.
After 2 days of intense work preparing the telescope and installing the camera, we were ready to test it on the sky on Aug 31. Thanks are due to Ted Groner, Bob Hutchins and Wayne Peters for their strenuous, successful efforts to have the telescope and camera ready.
For the first image, which had to await a storm moving away, Dave Latham, Andy Szentgyorgyi, Ted Groner, Wayne Peters and Emilio Falco were present. The image revealed a lack of collimating, which was expected because both mirrors had been removed and remounted, and the primary had been returned to an optimal position in its cell after realuminization. The quality of the images is already quite obviously superior to that of 4shooter images.
Although we initially maintained 4shooter cold in case Minicam failed, it is now warm.
Minicam replaces 4shooter until Keplercam is ready. See the 1.2m Minicam
link
for details.
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