The WIYN One Degree Imager: An Update

摘要

The WIYN Consortium is building the One Degree Imager (ODI) for its 3.5m telescope, located at Kitt Peak, Arizona (USA). ODI will utilize both the excellent image quality and the one degree field of view of the WIYN telescope. Image quality will be actively improved by localised tip/tilt image motion stabilisation using a novel concept of Orthogonal Transfer Array (OTA) CCDs, which are a new detector type jointly developed with the PanSTARRS project. Its anticipated median image quality of ≤ 0.55' in the R band will make ODI a unique and competitive instrument in the landscape of the next generation of large field imagers.A conceptual design of ODI was presented earlier at SPIE. In the meantime, this concept matured, the ODI project has been fully funded, and it has entered the construction phase. A prototype camera (QUOTA) with a field of view of 16'×16' has already seen first star light in fall 2006. In this paper we report on the evolution of ODI's definition, the design of its components, the status of the OTA detector development, and the path towards first light in early 2010. In accompanying papers we detail the design of the ODI's optical corrector, the mechanical structures, and the software & instrument system control design.