Abstract
The advent of infrared “array” detectors in the mid-1980s completely changed the way infrared astronomy was done. The UK Infrared Telescope and the Royal Observatory Edinburgh played significant roles in this revolutionary development. From 1984 to 1986, I was involved in the development of IRCAM, the first common-user infrared camera for the 1–5 μm region to use a solid-state imaging device developed specifically for ground-based astronomy. Although that first 58 × 62 pixel array is small by today’s standards, that remarkable little device, and its exploitation on the 3.8 m telescope, opened the flood gates and resulted in exponential growth for infrared astronomy. This article recounts some of the story behind the development and deployment of IRCAM.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Becklin, E.E., Neugebauer, G.: Infrared observations of the Galactic Center. Astrophys. J. 151, 145–161 (1968)
Kleinmann, D.E., Low, F.J.: Observations of infrared galaxies. Astrophys. J. 159, L165–L172 (1970)
McLean, I.S.: Electronic imaging in astronomy, 2nd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York (2008)
Wynn-Williams, C.G., Becklin, E.E. (eds.): Infrared astronomy with arrays. The Institute of Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu (1987)
Acknowledgments
It is a pleasure to acknowledge Tim Chuter and the entire IRCAM team at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and at UKIRT, as well as Mark McCaughrean and John Rayner. The IRCAM revolution could never have happened without this wonderful team. It is also a pleasure to acknowledge the late Donald Pettie for his personal support and encouragement.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this paper
Cite this paper
McLean, I.S. (2013). The IRCAM Revolution. In: Adamson, A., Davies, J., Robson, I. (eds) Thirty Years of Astronomical Discovery with UKIRT. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, vol 37. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7432-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7432-2_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-7431-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7432-2
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)