The last two to three years have seen a revolution take place in Infrared Astronomy. Prior to this time virtually all observations at wavelengths longer than about 1 micron had to be made by either scanning a single detector or by using small arrays of individually wired detectors. This has been as true for spectroscopic instruments as it has for photometric and mapping instruments. The revolution which has taken place has been the availability to astronomers of true imaging detector arrays for use at infrared wavelengths. The main impact of these devices so far has been at the shorter wavelengths using ground based telescopes. In future years this impact will be extended to longer wavelengths and to space based observations. A review of currently available devices and technologies will be presented. Prospects for the near- and mid-term future will be outlined and some desired characteristics for devices will be given.

Date Published: 26 September 1989
PDF: 3 pages
Proc. SPIE 1130, New Technologies for Astronomy, (26 September 1989); doi: 10.1117/12.961519

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1130:
New Technologies for Astronomy
Jean-Pierre Swings, Editor(s)