NIRCam: Status Update Kailash C. Sahu Sunshield Spacecraft Bus Warm, Sun-facing side Primary Mirror...

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NIRCam: Status Update

Kailash C. SahuSunshield

Spacecraft Bus

Warm, Sun-facing sideWarm, Sun-facing side

Primary Mirror

Integrated

ScienceInstrume

ntModule(ISIM)

Optical Telescope Element (OTE)

Cold, space-facing side

1m


QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.NIRCam’s Role in JWST’s Science Themes

young solar system

Kuiper Belt

Planets

First Light in the Universe:NIRCam will execute deep surveys to find and

categorize first galaxies.

Assembly of Galaxies: NIRCam will provide details on shapes and

colors of galaxies.

Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems:NIRCam will be ideal to study disks and proto-

planetary systems.

Planetary Systems and Origins of Life:NIRCam and its coronagraph will image and

characterize disks and planets, and study extrasolar planets with high S/N observations.

NIRCAM_X000

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What’s NIRCam?

•NIRCam is the near-infrared camera (0.6-5 microns) for JWST

–Dichroic used to split range into short (0.6-2.3m) and long (2.4-5) sections–Nyquist sampling at 2 and 4m–Coronagraphic capability for both short and long wavelengths–Low-resolution spectroscopic capability in the LW channel.

•NIRCam is the wavefront sensor–Must be fully redundant


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• Each module has two channels (0.6 to 2.3 m and 2.4 to 5 m)

– 7 wide band filters (4 SW, 3 LW) for deep surveys

– Survey efficiency is increased by observing the same field at long and short wavelength simultaneously

• Pixel scale: SW: 0.032”/pixLW: 0.064”/pix

Long wavelength channelShort wavelength channel

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QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.NIRCam Optical Layout*

Pick off Mirror Subassembly

CoronagraphElements

Longwave Filter Wheel Assembly Elements

Longwave Triplet Subassembly

Longwave Focal Plane Housing Fold Mirror

Shortwave Focal Plane Housing Fold Mirror

Starlight from OTE

First Fold Mirror Subassembly

Collimator Triplet Subassembly

Dichroic Beamsplitter

Shortwave Filter Wheel Assembly Elements

Shortwave Triplet Subassembly

Shortwave Fold Mirror

Pupil Imaging Lens Assembly

*there are 2 identical modules


QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.JWST-Spitzer Image Comparison

Spitzer, 25 hour per band

(GOODS collaboration)

1’x1’ region in the UDF – 3.5 to 5.8 m

JWST, 1000s per band (simulated)

Courtesy: Stefano Casertano


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• Large collecting area– 45 × Spitzer, Kepler– 350 × CoRoT

• Increased SNR (D), faster observations (D2)

• Very precise light curves for primary eclipses

– Smaller planets– Rings, moons, etc.– Ingress & egress curves for temp

map (Rauscher et al)• Thermal mapping (secondary

transit light curves).

E. Rauscher et al. (2007)



Transits With NIRCAM• Lenses introduce 4,8,12 of defocus to spread light over many hundreds of

pixels– Reduce flat-field errors for bright stars 5<K<10 mag– Ultra-high precision data for bright transits

• Diffused images (weak lenses) or spectrally dispersed images (grism) reduce brightness/pixel by >5 mag. K=3-5 mag stars not saturated.


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4Defocus

8Defocus x10 12Defocus x10

In Focus F210M

Courtesy John Krist


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• RN and QE better than spec requirements. But minor problems remain…• First-frame effect (RN is larger in the first few ms after reset, which effects

first 2 rows).• RN level is unstable, which may require active temperature control.

Illuminated Dark


QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.Current Status

• FPA has been thoroughly tested at UofA.• It has gone to Lockheed Martin for checkout of the focal plane electronics.

• FSW script development is in progress at STScI. Script testing will be done in GSFC/LMATC in 2008/2009.

• Calibration, DMS, PPS and ETC development in progress.



Project is moving along!

NIRCam qualification focal plane.

NIRCam ETU bench.

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

science operationsmission implementationConcept Development

NIRCam deliverylaunchmission formulation

authorized



Summary• NIRCam will be a versatile instrument capable of detecting “First Light” galaxies• Recent additions to NIRCam such as long wavelength slitless grisms and use of weak lenses make it also capable of definitive exoplanet studies• Both NIRCam and the entire JWST Project are making great progress towards a 2013 launch.

NIRCam: Status Update Kailash C. Sahu Sunshield Spacecraft Bus Warm, Sun-facing side Primary Mirror...

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