Difference between revisions of "PRIME"
Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
transients (with ToO override capability) | transients (with ToO override capability) | ||
+ | |||
+ | '''Schedule:''' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Preliminary building design: completed Nov 2019 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Ash Dome (9-m diameter): arrival at Sutherland expected end Mar 2020 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Building commencement expected: end-April 2020 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Building completion expected: end-Sep 2020 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Telescope and dome installation: Oct 2020 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Camera completion: end 2020 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Commissioning: beginning early 2021 | ||
'''SAAO Contact:''' | '''SAAO Contact:''' | ||
David Buckley (PM) | David Buckley (PM) |
Revision as of 12:50, 9 March 2020
Overview
PRIME is a 1.8-m diameter wide field alt-az telescope with a near IR (to H-band) prime focus camera giving a 1.13° x 1.13° field of view. In addition there will be a fibre-fed high resolution spectrograph, SAND, which will cover 900-1200Å at R ~ 55000.
PRIME is a joint Japanese-US-South African project involving the University of Osaka, The AstroBiology Center of the Japanese National Institutes of Natural Sciences, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, the University of Maryland and SAAO. The fraction of time available to the South African community outright is 14%, although the data from the main survey (which will represent 50% of the observing time) will be made available to the community.
It is expected to be installed in Sutherland in the latter part of 2020.
The (outdated) website for PRIME is: [1]
Specifications:
diameter = 1.8-m
f/ratio (prime) = f/2.3
f/ratio (fibre injection) = f/3.3
prime focus detector = mosaic of 4 x H4RG-10 HgCdTe arrays with 10 micron pixels (flight spares from the WFIRST mission)
Science Drivers:
microlensing detection in the Galactic bulge (50% time) to search for exoplanets
exoplanet transits
Galactic structure
variable stars
transients (with ToO override capability)
Schedule:
Preliminary building design: completed Nov 2019
Ash Dome (9-m diameter): arrival at Sutherland expected end Mar 2020
Building commencement expected: end-April 2020
Building completion expected: end-Sep 2020
Telescope and dome installation: Oct 2020
Camera completion: end 2020
Commissioning: beginning early 2021
SAAO Contact:
David Buckley (PM)