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THE DARK ENERGY CAMERA

The Astronomical Journal · 2015 · Vol. 150(5) · pp. 150–150

B. Flaugher(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)H. T. Diehl✉(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)K. Honscheid(The Ohio State University)T. M. C. Abbott(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)Orfa de Jesús Jácome Álvarez(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)R. Angstadt(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)J. Annis(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)M. Antonik(University College London)O. Ballester(Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)L. Beaufore(The Ohio State University)G. M. Bernstein(University of Pennsylvania)R. A. Bernstein(Carnegie Observatories)Bruce C. Bigelow(University of Michigan)Marco Bonati(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)D. Boprie(University of Michigan)D. Brooks(University College London)E. Buckley‐Geer(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Julia Campa(Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas)L. Cardiel-Sas(Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)F. J. Castander(Institute of Space Sciences)Javier Castilla(Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas)H. Cease(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)J. M. Cela Ruiz(Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas)S. Chappa(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)E. Chi(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)C. Cooper(University of Michigan)L. da Costa(Valongo Observatory)Ercan M. Dede(University of Michigan)G. Derylo(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)D. L. DePoy(Mitchell Institute)J. De Vicente(Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas)P. Doel(University College London)A. Drlica-Wagner(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)J. Eiting(The Ohio State University)Ann Elliott(The Ohio State University)J. Emes(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)J. Estrada(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)A. Fausti Neto(Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia)D. A. Finley(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Rubén Higueras Flores(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)J. Frieman(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)D. W. Gerdes(University of Michigan)M. D. Gladders(University of Chicago)Brooke Gregory(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)G. Gutiérrez(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Jiangang Hao(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)S. Holland(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)S. Holm(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Dave Huffman(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Cheryl Jackson(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)D. J. James(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)M. Jonas(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Armin Karcher(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)I. Karliner(University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)S. Kent(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)R. Keßler(University of Chicago)Mark Kozlovsky(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)R. G. Kron(University of Chicago)D. Kubik(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)K. Kuehn(Australian Astronomical Observatory)S. E. Kuhlmann(Argonne National Laboratory)K. Kuk(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)O. Lahav(University College London)Andrew Lathrop(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)J. Lee(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)M. E. Levi(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)P. Lewis(SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)T. S. Li(Mitchell Institute)I. V. Mandrichenko(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)J. L. Marshall(Mitchell Institute)G. Martı́nez(Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas)K. W. Merritt(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)R. Miquel(Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats)Freddy Muñoz(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)Eric H. Neilsen(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)R. C. Nichol(University of Portsmouth)B. Nord(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)R. L. C. Ogando(Valongo Observatory)J. Olsen(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)N.P. Palaio(Mitchell Institute)K. Patton(The Ohio State University)J. Peoples(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)A. A. Plazas(Jet Propulsion Laboratory)John Rauch(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)K. Reil(SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)J. P. Rheault(Mitchell Institute)Natalie A. Roe(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)Howard Rogers(SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)A. Roodman(SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)E. Sánchez(Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas)V. Scarpine(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)R. H. Schindler(SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)R. Schmidt(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)R. Schmitt(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)M. Schubnell(University of Michigan)Kenneth R. Schultz(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Patricio Schurter(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)L. M. Scott(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)S. Serrano(Institute of Space Sciences)Terri Shaw(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Rory Smith(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)M. Soares-Santos(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)A. Stefanik(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)W. Stuermer(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)E. Suchyta(The Ohio State University)Adam Sypniewski(University of Michigan)G. Tarlé(University of Michigan)J. Thaler(University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)Roberto Tighe(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)C. Tran(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)D. L. Tucker(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)A. R. Walker(Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)G. Wang(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)Michael G. Watson(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Curtis Weaverdyck(University of Michigan)W. C. Wester(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Robert M. Woods(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)B. Yanny(Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)

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Abstract

The Dark Energy Camera is a new imager with a 2. 2 diameter field of view mounted at the prime focus of the Victor M. Blanco 4m telescope on Cerro Tololo near La Serena, Chile. The camera was designed and constructed by the Dark Energy Survey Collaborationand meets or exceeds the stringent requirements designed for the widefield and supernova surveys for which the collaboration uses it. The camera consists of a five-element optical corrector, seven filters, a shutter with a 60 cm aperture, and a charge-coupled device (CCD) focal plane of 250 m thick fully depleted CCDs cooled inside a vacuum Dewar. The 570 megapixel focal plane comprises 62 2k 4k CCDs for imaging and 12 2k 2k CCDs for guiding and focus. The CCDs have 15 m 15 m pixels with a plate scale of 0 263 pixel -1 . A hexapod system provides state-of-the-art focus and alignment capability. The camera is read out in 20 s with 6-9 electronreadout noise. This paper provides a technical description of the cameras engineering, construction, installation, and current status.

CCD and CMOS Imaging Sensors Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing Astronomy and Astrophysical ResearchPhysicsDark energyAstronomyAstrophysicsCosmology