Magellan Instant Camera testbed

Abstract

The Magellan Instant Camera (MagIC) is an optical CCD camera that was built at MIT and is currently used at Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) in La Serena, Chile. It is designed to be both simple and efficient with minimal optics between the telescope port and the detector, a high quantum efficiency and throughput detector, a CryoTiger® self-contained, cooling system that cleanly and cost-effectively maintains observing temperatures as low as 70K, and a modular user interface that allows the observer to control all elements of an exposure. The goal of this thesis project is to create a testbed for MagIC at MIT. The testbed consists of identical camera electronics, software, and hardware to MagIC, but it has an engineering-grade CCD. The system will be used to test electronics and software before installation occurs at LCO and to serve as an additional camera at Wallace Astrophysical Observatory for MIT students and other observatory users. This thesis will serve a documentation source for MagIC as well as a manual for setting up and running the MagIC testbed.