A commonly used word in describing the Kitt Peak facilities has been scientific capability, a term which may be thought of as a convolution of the telescope itself, the instrumentation, image quality, and efficiency of operation. Every issue of the Newsletter has several articles describing the efforts in optimizing these various aspects of our facilities.
The quality of the instrumentation is a significant factor in keeping all of our telescopes scientifically competitive. A glance through the presently available instruments (NOAO Newsletter No. 45) will demonstrate the availability of large-format detectors (2048 x 2048 and 3K x 1K CCDs and 256 x 256 IR arrays) on large and small aperture telescopes.
Like biological evolution, the evolution of these capabilities is a quasi-continuous process, although sufficiently gradual that one is not always aware of the scope of the changes. Such changes can be better defined by discrete sampling, so we present listings of the available KPNO instrumentation five and ten years ago as a basis for comparison.
1996 KPNO Instrumentation
4-m R-C Spectrograph + T2KB (2048 x 2048) Echelle Spectrograph + T2KB Prime Focus Camera + T2KB CryoCam + Loral (800 x 1200) Cryogenic Spectrograph CRSP (256 x 256 InSb) Infrared Imager IRIM (256 x 256 NICMOS3) WIYN Hydra + Bench Spectrograph + T2KC (2048 x 2048) CCD Imager + S2KB (2048 x 2048) 2.1-m Direct Camera + T1KA (1024 x 1024) GoldCam Spectrograph + F3KA (3072 x 1024) CRSP IRIM Coude Feed Camera 5 or 6 + F3KB (3072 x 1024) Camera 5 + NICMOS3 (256 x 256) 0.9-m Direct Camera + T2KA (2048 x 2048) CCD Photometer + T5HC (512 x 512) Burrell Schmidt Direct or Objective Prism + S2KA (2048 x 2048)
1991 KPNO Instrumentation
4-m R-C Spectrograph + TI2 (800 x 800) Echelle Spectrograph + TI2 CryoCam + TI1 (800 x 800) Fourier Transform Spectrometer (Single InSb) Prime Focus Camera + 2048 x 2048 CCD NESSIE Fibers + Plugboard (with R-C or Echelle) Cryogenic Spectrograph CRSP (58 x 62 InSb) Infrared Imager IRIM (58 x 62 InSb) 2.1-m GoldCam Spectrograph Fiber Optic Echelle White Spectrograph (Plates) Direct Camera + TI6 (800 x 800); TEK2 (512 x 512) CRSP IRIM Coude Feed Camera 5 or 6 + TI3 (800 x 800) 1.3-m IRIM CRSP OTTO (Single Channel InSb Photometer) MkIII (Optical Photomultiplier Photometer) SQIID (Four Channel IR Imager; 256 x 256 PtSi) 0.9-m Direct Imaging: TI6; TEK1 or TEK2 (512 x 512); 2048 x 2048 CCD Intensified Reticon Scanner (IRS) Automatic Filter Photometer (at #2 0.9-m) Burrell Schmidt Direct or Objective Prism + TI2 or TI6 (800 x 800) Photographic Plates
Five years ago, the larger format chips which are in universal use today (2048 x 2048 CCDs; 256 x 256 IR arrays) were just starting to find use for wide-field imaging. The initial 2048 x 2048 CCDs were thick devices coated with Metachrome 2 for blue sensitivity enhancement, rather than the thinned devices used presently. After only four years, the low quantum efficiency of the large (in 1991) IR arrays in SQIID made that instrument noncompetitive and the requests for its use decreased significantly. Most of the arrays in use were 512 x 512 TEK chips, 800 x 800 TI chips, and 58 x 62 InSb arrays. Multi-object spectroscopy was possible with NESSIE and fiber plugboards. No ICE, no WILDFIRE.
1986 KPNO Instrumentation 4-m R-C Spectrograph + TI3 (800 x 800) Echelle Spectrograph + TI2 (800 x 800) or RCA2 (320 x 512) CryoCam + TI1 (800 x 800) Fourier Transform Spectrometer Intensified CCD Camera Prime Focus Imaging + TI2 or Photographic Plates Intensified Image Dissector Scanner (IIDS) BT Single-channel InSb Photometer 2.1-m IIDS White Spectrograph + Photographic Plates Direct Camera + TI2 or RCA1 (320 x 512) BT Coude Feed Camera 5 or 6 + TI2 or TI3 (800 x 800) Photographic Plates 1.3-m OTTO, HERM Single-channel InSb Photometer AUDR Scanning InSb Spectrophotometer BOLO Single-channel Ge Bolometer Photometer CCCP Single-channel Si:As Photometer Mk2 Single-channel Photomultiplier Photometer 0.9-m (#1 and #2) Direct Camera + TI2, TI3 (800 x 800); RCA1 (320 x 512) Intensified Reticon Scanner (IRS) White Spectrograph + Photographic Plates 0.4-m f/13 Photomultipler Photometer Burrell Schmidt Direct or Objective Prism + Photographic Plates
Ten years ago, all scheduled IR astronomy utilized single-channel instruments; engineering tests of the first 58 x 62 arrays was just getting going. Optical CCDs were the 800 x 800 TI chips and the 320 x 512 RCAs. The Kitt Peak Photon Counting Array (KPCA) was undergoing engineering tests. Remember the IIDS and IRS? Most of the Varian 620s had been replaced by state-of-the-art PDP machines, but it was still VT100s, FORTH, and nine-track tapes.
Dick Joyce