Optical Studies Of X-Ray Sources With The MASCOTÃ¢â‚¬â€?A Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)-Based Astronomical Instrument

G. R. Ricker; M. W. Bautz; D. Dewey; S. S. Meyer

doi:10.1117/12.965860

1 January 1981 Optical Studies Of X-Ray Sources With The MASCOT-A Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)-Based Astronomical Instrument

G. R. Ricker, M. W. Bautz, D. Dewey, S. S. Meyer

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 0290, Solid-State Imagers for Astronomy; (1981) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.965860
Event: Solid State Imagers for Astronomy, 1981, Cambridge, United States

Abstract

The first observing run with the MASCOT (MIT Astronomical Spectrometer/Camera for Optical Telescopes) on the 1.3 m telescope at the McGraw-Hill Observatory in March 1981 demonstrated that the spectrophotometric sensitivity and stability of the instrument is consistent with the estimates made by Meyer and Ricker (1981) and Dewey and Ricker (1990), based on their calculations and laboratory calibrations. A pair of Texas Instruments virtual phse CCD's were used as the MASCOT optical detectors. In the W band (4000Å-7000Å), the MASCOT achieved a sky-limited sensitivity of +24.4 mag arc sec ^-2 in an 1800s integration (1 arc sec pixel size; 5σ level of significance). The ability to "flatten" pictures to a level consistent with (sky + source) photon statistics and readout noise was demonstrated. As an example of the capabilities which the MASCOT has demon-strated, we discuss our preliminary results from optical observations of four high galactic latitude Einstein x-ray sources without optical counterparts (i.e. "empty field" sources). For the four sources we observed, we established an optical counterpart for one source (1413+13), based on positional coincidence (better than 1.8 arc sec); detected four possible candidates in the error bode of anotper source (1009+35), and established sensi-tive upper limits (>22.3 mag; 4000 Å - 7000 Å, 5 upper limits) for optical counterparts in the error boxes for the other two sources (0920+39 and 0931-11).

Citation Download Citation

G. R. Ricker, M. W. Bautz, D. Dewey, and S. S. Meyer "Optical Studies Of X-Ray Sources With The MASCOT-A Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)-Based Astronomical Instrument", Proc. SPIE 0290, Solid-State Imagers for Astronomy, (1 January 1981); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.965860

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available