We are in the process
of developing an infrared camera that that is used on the Thirty Inch Telescope
at the University of California at Berkeley
Astronomy Department's
Leuschner Observatory. This instrument is used as the central focus of
a new course Astronomy 122 Infrared Astronomy. The camera is sensitive
to light as long as 2.5 microns wavelength. This wavelength is long enough
to make it easier to peer through the dust that fills our galaxy and to see
stars that are have only recently (astronomically speaking) been born. The
camera is funded by an Instructional Improvement Grant from the National
Science Foundation and a generous gift from the Rockwell Corporation.
To the right is one of the first images from the Rockwell PICNIC array on the Thirty Inch telescope. It is a picture of of the Crab Nebula at H band (1.6 microns) taken by Melissa Enoch.