Home > Info > Telescope & Instruments > Instruments > SkyCam
Use phase2UI

LATEST

29 Jul 14:30 UT

Calima. Operations suspended.

LIVE DATA

31 Jul 21:15 UT

Enclosure CLOSED
RCS mode no-mca

SkyCam

Andor camera
One of the SkyCam Andor cameras
"SkyCam" is a project to provide simultaneous wide field observations with normal LT data taking. All data taken with SkyCamA and SkyCamT is immediately public to all and may be used for any non-commercial scientific or educational purpose. Data taken with SkyCamZ remains proprietary. Please contact the LT group if you require access to that data.

At present the system consists of three cameras:

SkycamT image
Small section of SkyCamT image with all objects brighter than V=12 identified
(click for bigger)
All cameras use Andor ikon-M DU934N-BV cameras equipped with a 1024x1024 pixel, back illuminated and anti-reflection coated CCD running at -40°C. There are no filters in the system. A quantum efficiency curve is presented below:
Skycam QE

When the enclosure is open, data is taken automatically once per minute with a 10 second exposure time. All data is automatically dark subtracted and flat-fielded and a world coordinate system fitted. SkyCamA and SkyCamZ data is then immediately publicly released both as JPEG and FITS files here. In addition both browsable and searchable image archives are available.

Testing of SkyCamT has shown it is capable of repeatable photometry to a few hundredths of a magnitude for objects of around 8th magnitude. No testing has yet been done at fainter magnitudes. The lightcurve below of RR Lyrae (period about 1.1 days) was constructed from two images per night obtained over a six week period and shows the quality of data that can be expected. The scatter in the lightcurve is dominated by variability in the object from phase to phase rather than the skycam data itself.
SkyCamR light curve of RR Lyrae