HAWC +, the Far-Infrared Camera and Polarimeter for SOFIA

Doyal A. Harper, Marcus C. Runyan, C. Darren Dowell, C. Jesse Wirth, Michael Amato, Troy Ames, Mandana Amiri, Stuart Banks, Arlin Bartels, Dominic J. Benford, Marc Berthoud, Ernest Buchanan, Sean Casey, Nicholas L. Chapman, David T. Chuss, Brant Cook, Rebecca Derro, Jessie L. Dotson, Rhodri Evans, Dale FixsenIan Gatley, Jordan A. Guerra, Mark Halpern, Ryan T. Hamilton, Louise A. Hamlin, Christopher J. Hansen, Stephen Heimsath, Alfonso Hermida, Gene C. Hilton, Robert Hirsch, Matthew I. Hollister, Carl F. Hostetter, Kent Irwin, Christine A. Jhabvala, Murzban Jhabvala, Joel Kastner, Attila Kovács, Sean Lin, Robert F. Loewenstein, Leslie W. Looney, Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez, Stephen F. Maher, Joseph M. Michail, Timothy M. Miller, S. Harvey Moseley, Giles Novak, Robert J. Pernic, Timothy Rennick, Harvey Rhody, Eric Sandberg, Dale Sandford, Fabio Pereira Santos, Rick Shafer, Elmer H. Sharp, Peter Shirron, Javad Siah, Robert Silverberg, Leroy M. Sparr, Robert Spotz, Johannes G. Staguhn, Armen S. Toorian, Shannon Towey, Jim Tuttle, John Vaillancourt, George Voellmer, Carolyn G. Volpert, Shu I. Wang, Edward J. Wollack

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

115 Scopus citations

Abstract

High-resolution Airborne Wide-band Camera (HAWC+) is the facility far-infrared imager and polarimeter for SOFIA, NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. It is designed to cover the portion of the infrared spectrum that is completely inaccessible to ground-based observatories and which is essential for studies of astronomical sources with temperatures between tens and hundreds of degrees Kelvin. Its ability to make polarimetric measurements of aligned dust grains provides a unique new capability for studying interstellar magnetic fields. HAWC+ began commissioning flights in April 2016 and was accepted as a facility instrument in early 2018. In this paper, we describe the instrument, its operational procedures, and its performance on the observatory.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1840008
JournalJournal of Astronomical Instrumentation
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Instrumentation
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics

Keywords

  • Instrumentation
  • camera
  • detectors
  • dust
  • far-infrared
  • formation
  • polarimeters
  • stars

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