The Mosaic II CCD Imager
on the CTIO Blanco 4m

The CTIO Mosaic II CCD imager is a near clone of the Mosaic I in use on the KPNO Mayall 4-m and 0.9-m telescopes and replaces the BTC camera previously used at prime focus on the V. M. Blanco 4-m telescope. The 8 SITe 2Kx4K CCDs (and see below) for Mosaic II were tested in the Tucson CCD Lab. After assembly of the focal plane, the CCDs were taken to CTIO and installed in the dewar. We have modified the prime focus area, strengthening the pedestal and enlargening the cage doors. Mosaic II was installed on the Blanco 4-m for engineering tests on July 12-14 1999, and has been scheduled for general visitor use for subsequent semesters.

DOCUMENTATION FOR USERS:

• A COOKBOOK for new users

• The CTIO version of the MOSAIC MANUAL. (postscript version, ~700 kBytes).

• You may find the KPNO Mosaic I homepage helpful (Note that although the two cameras were intended to be direct copies of eachother, this manual is specific to the KPNO Mosaic I, and may contain information which does NOT apply to the CTIO Mosaic II. CTIO Mosaic II is not available at any telescope besides the 4-m prime focus, and is the only optical imager scheduled at that telescope.)

• A few Frequently asked questions.
• MOSOCS, an exposure sequencer for Mosaic II.
• Filters available for Mosaic II (with focus offsets).
• Exposure Time Calculator (ETC)
• The most recent CCD test data for 16 channel mode. Some older data is available for for 8 channel mode. and 16 channel mode.
• Photometric zero points and sky rates
• Alternate WCS solution for circa 1999-2000 (zip file).
• NEW bad pixel masks and other calibration data (WCS, xtalk, CCD data) from Armin Rest and the SMSN collaboration
• Commissioning pictures taken in 8-channel mode (but note that the Mosaic is normally read out by 16 amplifiers, i.e. 2 per CCD).
• Available tape drives.

Known problem areas:

• Arcon crashes.
• Absolute timing of exposures.
• Focusing.
• Temperature control. If you're using the z' filter, read this!
• The atmospheric dispersion corrector (ADC).