The Mexico UK Sub-mm Camera for Astronomy (MUSCAT) on-sky commissioning: performance of the cryogenic systems

T. L. R. Brien; S. Doyle; D. H. Hughes; P. A. R. Ade; P. S. Barry; E. Castillo-Domínguez; C. Dodd; C. Dunscombe; S. Eales; D. Ferrusca; V. Gómez-Rivera; P. Hargrave; J. L. Hernández-Rebollar; A. Hornsby; J. House; J. M. Jáuregui-Garcia; P. D. Mauskopf; D. Murias; A. Papageorgiou; E. Pascale; N. Peretto; A. Pérez-Fajardo; S. Rowe; D. Sánchez-Argüelles; M. W. L. Smith; K. Souccar; R. Sudiwala; M. Tapia; A. T. Campos; C. Tucker; M. Velázquez de la Rosa Becerra; S. Ventura-González; I. Walker

doi:10.1117/12.2630071

31 August 2022 The Mexico UK Sub-mm Camera for Astronomy (MUSCAT) on-sky commissioning: performance of the cryogenic systems

T. L. R. Brien, S. Doyle, D. H. Hughes, P. A. R. Ade, P. S. Barry, E. Castillo-Domínguez, C. Dodd, C. Dunscombe, S. Eales, D. Ferrusca, V. Gómez-Rivera, P. Hargrave, J. L. Hernández-Rebollar, A. Hornsby, J. House, J. M. Jáuregui-Garcia, P. D. Mauskopf, D. Murias, A. Papageorgiou, E. Pascale, N. Peretto, A. Pérez-Fajardo, S. Rowe, D. Sánchez-Argüelles, M. W. L. Smith, K. Souccar, R. Sudiwala, M. Tapia, A. T. Campos, C. Tucker, M. Velázquez de la Rosa Becerra, S. Ventura-González, I. Walker

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12190, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XI; 1219018 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2630071
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Conference Poster

Abstract

MUSCAT is a new 1.1 mm band receiver which was installed on the 50 m Large Millimeter Telescope atop Volc´an Sierra Negra in Puebla, Mexico during the final quarter of 2021 and commissioned on sky throughout 2022. MUSCAT uses a novel cooling chain consisting of a commercial pulse tube cooler, two thermal stages of passively-switched continuous sorption coolers, and a final miniature dilution refrigerator. Through this system MUSCAT achieves a continuous temperature of 120 mK at the focal plane and has shown continuous operation at this temperature for greater than 100 days during readiness testing. Through minimising the amount of helium-3 required, the design on MUSCAT’s cryogenic systems produced a reliable, cost-effective cooling platform. Here we present the cryogenic design and performance of MUSCAT on-sky and compare this to that achieved during deployment-readiness testing at Cardiff (UK). We consider both cooldown time and achieved base temperature. We look at the impact on operation of relocating a pulse-tube cooled instrument from a development lab running on a 50 Hz mains electricity supply to a site running at 60 Hz. Finally, we describe the process of preparing the MUSCAT instrument for shipping and assess the success of this process in terms of remedial work required upon arrival.

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T. L. R. Brien, S. Doyle, D. H. Hughes, P. A. R. Ade, P. S. Barry, E. Castillo-Domínguez, C. Dodd, C. Dunscombe, S. Eales, D. Ferrusca, V. Gómez-Rivera, P. Hargrave, J. L. Hernández-Rebollar, A. Hornsby, J. House, J. M. Jáuregui-Garcia, P. D. Mauskopf, D. Murias, A. Papageorgiou, E. Pascale, N. Peretto, A. Pérez-Fajardo, S. Rowe, D. Sánchez-Argüelles, M. W. L. Smith, K. Souccar, R. Sudiwala, M. Tapia, A. T. Campos, C. Tucker, M. Velázquez de la Rosa Becerra, S. Ventura-González, and I. Walker "The Mexico UK Sub-mm Camera for Astronomy (MUSCAT) on-sky commissioning: performance of the cryogenic systems", Proc. SPIE 12190, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XI, 1219018 (31 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2630071

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