Echelle spectroscopy with a charge-coupled device /CCD/The recent availability of large format CCD's with high quantum efficiency makes it possible to achieve significant advances in high dispersion astronomical spectroscopy. An echelle CCD combination excels or equals other techniques presently available, and offers the advantage of complete spectral coverage of several thousand Angstroms in a single exposure. Attention is given to experiments which were conducted with a CCD camera head and an echelle spectrograph on a 4-meter telescope. It was found possible to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of 150/1 on a 13th magnitude star at 6000 A in a two-hour exposure at 0.16 A/pixel, limited primarily by photon statistics. For fainter objects, readout noise is the limiting factor in precision. For 20 electron rms readout noise, an S/N = 15/1 at 18th magnitude is expected, all other things being equal.
Document ID
19820049071
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
York, D. G. (Princeton Univ. Observatory NJ, United States)
Jenkins, E. B. (Princeton Univ. Observatory NJ, United States)
Zucchino, P. (Princeton Univ. Observatory NJ, United States)
Lowrance, J. L. (Princeton Univ. Observatory NJ, United States)
Long, D. (Princeton Univ. Observatory NJ, United States)
Songaila, A. (Princeton University New Observatory, Princeton, NJ, United States)