Abstract
Results of a survey of instrumentation and detector systems, either currently deployed or planned for use at telescopes larger than 3.5 m, in ground based observatories world-wide, are presented. This survey revealed a number of instrumentation design trends at optical, near, and mid-infrared wavelengths. Some of the most prominent trends include the development of vastly larger optical detector systems (> 109 pixels) than anything built to date, and the frequent use of mosaics of near-infrared detectors – something that was quite rare only a decade ago in astronomy. Some future science applications for detectors are then explored, in an attempt to build a bridge between current detectors and what will be needed to support the research ambitions of astronomers in the future.
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Simons, D.A., Amico, P., Baade, D. et al. Instruments, Detectors and the Future of Astronomy with Large Ground Based Telescopes. Exp Astron 19, 15–44 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-005-9009-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-005-9009-y