Instrument Information
IDENTIFIER urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:ctio-cerro_tololo.victorblanco_4m0.decam::1.3
NAME Dark Energy Camera (DECam)
TYPE Imager
DESCRIPTION DECam is a high-performance wide-field CCD imager at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, designed for the Dark Energy Survey (DES), which concluded in January 2019. It has a field of view of 3 square degrees, with 62 CCDs providing 520 megapixels at a resolution of 0.263 arcseconds per pixel. The instrument is available to all users and features eight filters, with a read-out noise of 7e- and a dynamic range of 16 bits. The status of DECam's CCDs includes various faults, some leading to CCD masking in data processing due to issues such as low full well and unstable gain. The DECam shutter operates with two synchronized blades, allowing for precise exposure control, with the possibility of very short exposures. Although technical limitations can arise for very long exposures due to cosmic ray interference, DECam generally exceeds its design specifications in shutter performance.
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