The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, or SIRTF) contains three focal plane instruments, one of which is the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). IRAC is a four-channel camera that provides simultaneous 5.12 x 5.12 arcmin images at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8 microns (the black instrument in the lower right part of the above image; see the optical housing model and the conceptual layout diagram. The pixel size is 1.2 arcsec in all bands. Two adjacent fields of view in the focal plane are viewed by the four channels in pairs (3.6 and 5.8 microns; 4.5 and 8.0 microns). All four detector arrays in the camera are 256 x 256 pixels in size, with the two short wavelength channels using InSb and the two longer wavelength channels using Si:As IBC detectors. The IRAC point-source sensitivity requirements (5 sigma, 200 sec) at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 microns are 6, 7, 36, and 54 microJanskys, respectively.
The IRAC instrument will address the four major scientific objectives defining the Spitzer mission. These objectives are (1) to study the early universe, (2) to search for and study brown dwarfs and superplanets, (3) to study ultraluminous galaxies and active galactic nuclei, and (4) to discover and study protoplanetary and planetary debris disks. In addition, IRAC is a general-purpose camera that will be used by observers for a wide variety of astronomical research programs.
IRAC Team List - check here for email and web pages of the members of the IRAC Team.
Last update: 2004-11-04
Infrared Project Office