We present plans for the commissioning of the new GMOS-N red-sensitive science detectors, currently being integrated into a new focal plane assembly at the NRC HIA. These Hamamatsu CCDs provide significantly higher quantum efficiency than the existing detectors at red optical wavelengths (longward of ~ 700 nm), with > 80% QE at 900 nm falling to ~10% QE at 1.05 μm. This upgrade not only improves current operations with GMOS-N, but also opens new spectral ranges and potential observing modes (eg. use with Altair, the Gemini-N AO module). Care has been taken to ensure that Nod & Shuffle will still be supported, since accurate sky subtraction is increasingly important at longer wavelengths due to the increased density of sky lines. The commissioning plan aims to demonstrate the improvement in current modes while minimizing the period of GMOS-N downtime for science use. The science commissioning is currently scheduled for mid-November 2010.

Date Published: 20 July 2010
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 7735, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III, 773580 (20 July 2010); doi: 10.1117/12.857926

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7735:
Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III
Ian S. McLean; Suzanne K. Ramsay; Hideki Takami, Editor(s)