IRAC Layout
Light enters from the telescope and reflects off the pickoff mirrors which
define two separate fields in the focal plane. The light is then refracted
by the doublet camera lenses, and the short wavelength light is reflected by
the beamsplitter and the long wavelength light is transmitted.
The light for each channel then passes through a filter and enters
the array.
All channels
have a Lyot stop near the bandpass filter for stray light rejection.
A cold shutter can also be flipped into the beam for calibration. Dark frames
can be obtained in this configuration, and calibration lamps in the transmission
calibrator can be turned on to send light through the optical system for
flat-field measurement. In addition, "flood calibrators" exists which can
illuminate the individual arrays.
Last updated 1999 August 4