The wide-field infrared transient explorer (WINTER)

The Wide-Field Infrared Transient Explorer (WINTER) is a new infrared time-domain survey instrument which will be deployed on a dedicated 1 meter robotic telescope at Palomar Observatory. WINTER will perform a seeing-limited time domain survey of the infrared (IR) sky, with a particular emphasis on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2021-02
Main Authors: Lourie, Nathan P, Baker, John W, Burruss, Richard S, Egan, Mark, Fűrész, Gábor, Frostig, Danielle, Garcia-Zych, Allan A, Ganciu, Nicolae, Haworth, Kari, Hinrichsen, Erik, Kasliwal, Mansi M, Karambelkar, Viraj R, Malonis, Andrew, Simcoe, Robert A, Zolkower, Jeffry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysics
Binary stars
Celestial bodies
Field of view
Gallium arsenide
Indium gallium arsenides
Infrared imagery
Infrared instruments
Neutron stars
Observatories
Sensors
Sky surveys (astronomy)
Stellar evolution
Time domain analysis
Transients (astronomy)
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Summary:The Wide-Field Infrared Transient Explorer (WINTER) is a new infrared time-domain survey instrument which will be deployed on a dedicated 1 meter robotic telescope at Palomar Observatory. WINTER will perform a seeing-limited time domain survey of the infrared (IR) sky, with a particular emphasis on identifying r-process material in binary neutron star (BNS) merger remnants detected by LIGO. We describe the scientific goals and survey design of the WINTER instrument. With a dedicated trigger and the ability to map the full LIGO O4 positional error contour in the IR to a distance of 190 Mpc within four hours, WINTER will be a powerful kilonova discovery engine and tool for multi-messenger astrophysics investigations. In addition to follow-up observations of merging binaries, WINTER will facilitate a wide range of time-domain astronomical observations, all the while building up a deep coadded image of the static infrared sky suitable for survey science. WINTER's custom camera features six commercial large-format Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) sensors and a tiled optical system which covers a \(>\)1-square-degree field of view with 90% fill factor. The instrument observes in Y, J and a short-H (Hs) band tuned to the long-wave cutoff of the InGaAs sensors, covering a wavelength range from 0.9 - 1.7 microns. We present the design of the WINTER instrument and current progress towards final integration at Palomar Observatory and commissioning planned for mid-2021.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2102.01109