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NIRCam
NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) is an instrument aboard the James Webb Space Telescope. It has two major tasks, as an imager from 0.6 to 5 μm wavelength, and as a wavefront sensor to keep the 18-section mirrors functioning as one. In other words, it is a camera and is also used to provide information to align the 18 segments of the primary mirror. It is an infrared camera with ten mercury-cadmium-telluride (HgCdTe) detector arrays, and each array has an array of 2048×2048 pixels. The camera has a field of view of 2.2×2.2 arcminutes with an angular resolution of 0.07 arcseconds at 2 μm. NIRCam is also equipped with coronagraphs, which helps to collect data on exoplanets near stars. It helps with imaging anything next to a much brighter object, because the coronagraph blocks that light.
NIRCam is housed in the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM). It is connected to the ISIM mechanically with a system of kinematic mounts in the structural form of struts. There are thermal straps connecting the NIRCam optical bench assembly to the ISIM structure and to thermal radiators. It is designed to operate between 32 K (−241.2 °C; −402.1 °F) and 37 K (−236.2 °C; −393.1 °F). The Focal Plane Electronics operate at 290 K.
NIRCam should be able to observe objects as faint as magnitude +29 with a 10,000-second exposure (about 2.8 hours). It makes these observations in light from 0.6 to 5 μm (600 to 5000 nm) wavelength. It can observe in two fields of view, and either side can do imaging, or from the capabilities of the wave-front sensing equipment, spectroscopy. The wavefront sensing is much finer than the thickness of an average human hair. It must perform at an accuracy of at least 93 nanometers and in testing it has even achieved between 32 and 52 nm. A human hair is thousands of nanometers across.
Wavefront sensor components include:
Parts of NIRCam:
NIRCam has two complete optical systems for redundancy. The two sides can operate at the same time, and view two separate patches of sky; the two sides are called side A and side B. The lenses used in the internal optics are triplet refractors. The lens materials are lithium fluoride (LiF), a barium fluoride (BaF2) and zinc selenide (ZnSe). The triplet lenses are collimating optics. The biggest lens has 90 mm of clear aperture.
The observed wavelength range is broken up into a short wavelength and a long wavelength band. The short wavelength band goes from 0.6 to 2.3 μm and the long wavelength band goes from 2.4 to 5 μm; both have the same field of view and access to a coronagraph. Each side of the NIRCam views a 2.2 arcminute by 2.2 arcminute patch of sky in both the short and long wavelengths; however, the short wavelength arm has twice the resolution. The long wavelength arm has one array per side (two overall), and the short wavelength arm has four arrays per side, or 8 overall. Side A and Side B have a unique field of view, but they are adjacent to each other. In other words, the camera looks at two 2.2 arcminute wide fields of view that are next to each other, and each of these views is observed at short and long wavelengths simultaneously with the short wavelength arm having twice the resolution of the longer wavelength arm.
The builders of NIRCam are the University of Arizona, company Lockheed Martin, and Teledyne Technologies, in cooperation with the U.S. Space agency, NASA. Lockheed Martin tested and assembled the device. Teledyne Technologies designed and manufactured the ten mercury-cadmium-telluride (HgCdTe) detector arrays. NIRCam was completed in July 2013 and it was shipped to Goddard Spaceflight Center, which is the NASA center managing the JWST project.
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NIRCam AI simulator
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NIRCam
NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) is an instrument aboard the James Webb Space Telescope. It has two major tasks, as an imager from 0.6 to 5 μm wavelength, and as a wavefront sensor to keep the 18-section mirrors functioning as one. In other words, it is a camera and is also used to provide information to align the 18 segments of the primary mirror. It is an infrared camera with ten mercury-cadmium-telluride (HgCdTe) detector arrays, and each array has an array of 2048×2048 pixels. The camera has a field of view of 2.2×2.2 arcminutes with an angular resolution of 0.07 arcseconds at 2 μm. NIRCam is also equipped with coronagraphs, which helps to collect data on exoplanets near stars. It helps with imaging anything next to a much brighter object, because the coronagraph blocks that light.
NIRCam is housed in the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM). It is connected to the ISIM mechanically with a system of kinematic mounts in the structural form of struts. There are thermal straps connecting the NIRCam optical bench assembly to the ISIM structure and to thermal radiators. It is designed to operate between 32 K (−241.2 °C; −402.1 °F) and 37 K (−236.2 °C; −393.1 °F). The Focal Plane Electronics operate at 290 K.
NIRCam should be able to observe objects as faint as magnitude +29 with a 10,000-second exposure (about 2.8 hours). It makes these observations in light from 0.6 to 5 μm (600 to 5000 nm) wavelength. It can observe in two fields of view, and either side can do imaging, or from the capabilities of the wave-front sensing equipment, spectroscopy. The wavefront sensing is much finer than the thickness of an average human hair. It must perform at an accuracy of at least 93 nanometers and in testing it has even achieved between 32 and 52 nm. A human hair is thousands of nanometers across.
Wavefront sensor components include:
Parts of NIRCam:
NIRCam has two complete optical systems for redundancy. The two sides can operate at the same time, and view two separate patches of sky; the two sides are called side A and side B. The lenses used in the internal optics are triplet refractors. The lens materials are lithium fluoride (LiF), a barium fluoride (BaF2) and zinc selenide (ZnSe). The triplet lenses are collimating optics. The biggest lens has 90 mm of clear aperture.
The observed wavelength range is broken up into a short wavelength and a long wavelength band. The short wavelength band goes from 0.6 to 2.3 μm and the long wavelength band goes from 2.4 to 5 μm; both have the same field of view and access to a coronagraph. Each side of the NIRCam views a 2.2 arcminute by 2.2 arcminute patch of sky in both the short and long wavelengths; however, the short wavelength arm has twice the resolution. The long wavelength arm has one array per side (two overall), and the short wavelength arm has four arrays per side, or 8 overall. Side A and Side B have a unique field of view, but they are adjacent to each other. In other words, the camera looks at two 2.2 arcminute wide fields of view that are next to each other, and each of these views is observed at short and long wavelengths simultaneously with the short wavelength arm having twice the resolution of the longer wavelength arm.
The builders of NIRCam are the University of Arizona, company Lockheed Martin, and Teledyne Technologies, in cooperation with the U.S. Space agency, NASA. Lockheed Martin tested and assembled the device. Teledyne Technologies designed and manufactured the ten mercury-cadmium-telluride (HgCdTe) detector arrays. NIRCam was completed in July 2013 and it was shipped to Goddard Spaceflight Center, which is the NASA center managing the JWST project.
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