An article outlining the design and performance of the WIYN High Resolution Infrared Camera (WHIRC) recently appeared in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. WHIRC is a dedicated near-infrared (NIR) camera on the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope mounted on the WIYN Tip-Tilt Module (WTTM) port. Delivered to WIYN in July 2007 and accepted as a general use instrument by the WIYN Board in October 2008, WHIRC has performed well. WHIRC features a 3.3 arcminute field-of-view (FOV) and 0.1 arcsecond pixels, designed to take advantage of excellent native seeing. In addition to the standard J, H, K broadband filters, WHIRC is equipped with a suite of narrowband filters, including some redshifted filters. It may be used with WTTM for tip/tilt correction to further improve the image quality, as long as there is a sufficiently bright guide star in the FOV. With its superior resolution, WHIRC is complementary to other available large-FOV NIR imagers in that it can "zoom in" to specific areas to show more detail (see figure below). In addition to its excellent characteristics, WHIRC has one important advantage over instruments at larger telescopes, and that is its accessibility to observers. Unlike many 8- to 10-meter class telescopes with NIR instruments, anyone in the world may propose for observing time using WHIRC through the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. For more details, view the full article here.

Comparison of a false-color 2MASS image (left) of the GLIMPSE GC-1 Galactic Plane Globular Cluster, and a WHIRC image (right) of the same field. (Image credit: Matt Povich, University of Wisconsin.)

  

The WIYN Telescope, a 3.5-meter instrument employing many technological breakthroughs, is the newest and second largest telescope on Kitt Peak. The WIYN Observatory (pronounced "win") is owned and operated by the WIYN Consortium, which consists of the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale University, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). Most of the capital costs of the observatory, which amounted to $14 million, were provided by these universities, while NOAO, which operates the other telescopes of the Kitt Peak National Observatory, provides most of the operating services. This partnership between public and private universities and NOAO is the first of its kind. The universities benefit from access to a well-run observatory at an excellent site, and the larger astronomical community served by NOAO benefits from the addition of this large, state-of-the-art telescope to Kitt Peak's array of telescopes.

More information on the WIYN Telescope can be found here.
  

Applying for Observing Time on WIYN

If you are an observer interested in applying for WIYN Telescope time through NOAO you must submit the standard KPNO Observing Proposal forms. Complete information about the NOAO WIYN Observing Program is available on the NOAO WIYN Observing Program Home Page.

The Universities use their time primarily for "classical" observing, but remote observing is also used. If you are a University observer and you have been granted time by your institution, you must submit an Observing Run Preparation (ORP) form prior to your observing run to make sure that we understand all of the equipment needs for your observing run.
  

Visitor Information

The WIYN 3.5m is not open to the public. However, the visitor's center does offer daily tours of other telescopes on Kitt Peak. For more information on visiting Kitt Peak National Obseratory see the Kitt Peak Visitor's Center web site.