Teledyne’s CCD image sensors capture images of Andromeda Galaxy

Author: EIS Release Date: Aug 3, 2020


Chelmsford-based Teledyne e2v is highlighting the role of its CCD image sensors in successfully capturing the first light image of the JPCam camera element of the JST/T250 telescope.

Teledyne's CCD image sensors capture images of Andromeda Galaxy

The system recorded the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), located 2.5 million light years away.

The company has congratulated the Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón (CEFCA) and the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory (OAJ) on reaching the technological completion milestone – recording the first images of the sky using the observational system.

The company designed and provided the complete 1.2 gigapixel camera that will perform large sky surveys and build a three-dimensional map of the sky, it says.

It consists of the focal plane array (FPA), the detector control electronics and the CCD290-99 image sensors along with the auxiliary CCD detectors for guiding and focusing JPCam. A key feature of the system is the FPA to be contained in a custom cryogenic cooler.

According to CEFCA, JPCam is the second largest astronomical camera in the world, with 1,200 million pixels distributed in a mosaic of 14 Teledyne e2v scientific CCD (CCD290-99) image sensors that work in high vacuum conditions and at -110 degrees Celsius.

Weighing over 1.5 tons, it provides scientific image quality with high resolution across its wide field of view, says the company.

“This is, no doubt, the greatest complexity of the telescope-camera system, since it has been designed to provide very good image quality in an enormous field of view,” said Dr. Antonio Marín-Franch, researcher at the Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón, Head of the OAJ, and Project Manager of JPCam. “This fact has conditioned the opto-mechanical designs of the JST/T250 and JPCam.”

“The night was great and we got fantastic results, measuring, as expected, an excellent and homogeneous image quality throughout the field of view.”

The data collected by JPCam will enable astrophysicists to study the nature of dark energy or the history of the expansion of the Universe throughout the last 10.8 billion years, as well as informing scientists, astronomers and physicists about the formation and evolution of galaxies.

“This is a great achievement for everyone involved,” said Christophe Tatard, Vice President Business and Product Development at Teledyne e2v. “The camera FPA, FPGA control electronics and integration within the cryogenic cooling system for JPCam is a fantastic example of the Teledyne e2v’s complete system design and delivery capability for high precision and difficult environments.”

Image (top): Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Technical First Light Image 29/06/2020. JPCam@JST/T250 – Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre (OAJ). Credit: Centro de Estudios del Cosmos de Aragón (CEFCA)