AMKID: A large KID-based camera at the APEX telescope
Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 707, pp. A294
Abstract
Thermal emission at submillimeter wavelengths carries unique information for many astronomical applications, ranging from disks and planet formation around young stars to galaxy evolution studies at cosmological distances. Advancing the mapping speed to detect this faint emission in ground-based astronomy has been a technical challenge for decades. The APEX Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector (AMKID) camera was designed to accomplish this task. The instrument is a wide field-of-view camera based on kinetic inductance detectors. It is installed on the 12-meter APEX telescope in Chile at 5100 meters above sea level. The instrument operates in dual color, covering the 350 and 850 GHz atmospheric windows simultaneously. It has a large field of view of 15.3′ × 15.3′ and an unprecedented number of pixels: 13 952 detectors in the high-frequency band and 3520 detectors in the low-frequency band. Here we present a complete description of the instrument design and construction, together with results from the successful low-frequency-array (LFA) commissioning campaign executed over the last year. The LFA performance is in good agreement with design parameters, with detector sensitivity of 2.2 mK s and diffraction-limited beam sizes of 17.0″. On-sky measurements demonstrate a sensitivity of 70–90 mJy s per detector under good atmospheric conditions (PWV below 1.0 mm). With this performance the LFA regularly achieves a mapping sensitivity of 25 mJy when mapping a square degree in one hour. AMKID on APEX with its dual-color observing capabilities, high sensitivity, large field of view, and high angular resolution promises to open new scientific opportunities with the APEX telescope.
Authors 30
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Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
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Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
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Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
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Max Planck Society · University of Groningen · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
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Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
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Space Research Organisation Netherlands · Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
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Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology
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Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
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Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
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Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
-
Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
-
Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
-
Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
-
Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
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Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
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Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Affiliation as printed
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
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Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
Affiliation as printed
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
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University of Groningen · Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
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Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
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Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology
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Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
-
Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
-
Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
-
Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
-
Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
-
Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
-
University of Groningen · Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
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Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology
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University of Cologne · Space Research Organisation Netherlands · Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology
I.Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
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Max Planck Society · Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute für Radioastronomie
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