The wide-field infrared transient explorer (WINTER)

Nathan P. Lourie; John W. Baker; Richard S. Burruss; Mark Egan; Gábor Fűrész; Danielle Frostig; Allan A. Garcia-Zych; Nicolae Ganciu; Kari Haworth; Erik Hinrichsen; Mansi M. Kasliwal; Viraj R. Karambelkar; Andrew Malonis; Robert A. Simcoe; Jeffry Zolkower

doi:10.1117/12.2561210

13 December 2020 The wide-field infrared transient explorer (WINTER)

Nathan P. Lourie, John W. Baker, Richard S. Burruss, Mark Egan, Gábor Fűrész, Danielle Frostig, Allan A. Garcia-Zych, Nicolae Ganciu, Kari Haworth, Erik Hinrichsen, Mansi M. Kasliwal, Viraj R. Karambelkar, Andrew Malonis, Robert A. Simcoe, Jeffry Zolkower

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Proceedings Volume 11447, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII; 114479K (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2561210
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2020, Online Only

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Abstract

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 the 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 the Palomar Observatory and commissioning planned for mid-2021.

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Nathan P. Lourie, John W. Baker, Richard S. Burruss, Mark Egan, Gábor Fűrész, Danielle Frostig, Allan A. Garcia-Zych, Nicolae Ganciu, Kari Haworth, Erik Hinrichsen, Mansi M. Kasliwal, Viraj R. Karambelkar, Andrew Malonis, Robert A. Simcoe, and Jeffry Zolkower "The wide-field infrared transient explorer (WINTER)", Proc. SPIE 11447, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII, 114479K (13 December 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2561210

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