2004/05/31 by G. G. Fazio, the IRAC team, Joseph L. Hora +63 · 4 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation #Cardinal point #Channel (broadcasting) #Computer science #Detector #Field of view #Geography #Infrared #Large format #Optics #Physics #Pixel #Remote sensing #Spitzer Space Telescope #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Telecommunications #Telescope #Wavelength #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/422843
published as Astrophys.J.Suppl.154:10-17,2004 · 7 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in the ApJS. A higher resolution version is at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/irac/publications
arxiv created 2004/05/31 · openalex publication_date 2004/09/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/08
The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) is one of three focal plane instruments on the Spitzer Space Telescope . IRAC is a four-channel camera that obtains simultaneous broadband images at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 μm. Two nearly adjacent 5 2 × 5 2 fields of view in the focal plane are viewed by the four channels in pairs (3.6 and 5.8 μm; 4.5 and 8 μm). All four detector arrays in the camera are 256 × 256 pixels in size, with the two shorter wavelength channels using InSb and the two longer wavelength channels using Si:As IBC detectors. IRAC is a powerful survey instrument because of its high sensitivity, large field of view, and four-color imaging. This paper summarizes the in-flight scientific, technical, and operational performance of IRAC.