UKIRT Fast-Track Imager

UFTI is a 1-2.5um camera with a 1024x1024 HgCdTe array and a plate scale of 0.091 arcsec per pixel, giving a field of 92 arcsec. Subarrays (i.e. fewer pixels read out and so lower overheads) may also be used. Standard broad and narrow-band filters are available. UFTI was built at Oxford University.

Please Note: Near-IR imaging is available at UKIRT with either UFTI or UIST, our 1-5 micron imager-spectrometer. UFTI is more sensitive than UIST, and therefore should be used in preference to UIST for point sources. However, UIST has a larger field-of-view (120 arcsec versus 90 arcsec), so it may be preferable for extended sources. Note also that the 400 km/s FP is only available with UFTI.

Watson Varricatt (w.varricatt@jach.hawaii.edu) is the instrument scientist responsible for UFTI, and should be contacted with all UFTI enquiries. The Guide below is largely confined to two pages for ease of printing. The "Parameters" page is designed for reference (when preparing proposals, etc.). The "Observing" page should be read by first-time UFTI users before coming to observe; use this as an introduction to UFTI imaging with the ORAC software. You can finalise your observing strategy once you have met your Support Scientist in Hilo. Note that these pages may be updated at any time with new characterisation information.

The current status of the instrument is given here, although for those writing PATT proposals the information below should be up-to-date. For possible future instrument changes check the Availability of instruments on UKIRT web page.

A SPIE conference article describing UFTI is available in either gzipped PS, PDF or Word format. If you want to reference UFTI in a paper, please reference this article (Roche P.F. et al. 2002, Proc Spie 4841, Instrument Design and Performance for Optical/IR Ground-Based Telescopes, eds. M Iye and A.F Moorwood). UKIRT would also welcome an acknowledgement in papers resulting from UFTI observations.

Instrument Parameters (all links below to the same page)

• Basic Optical Parameters
• Current Filter Set
• Sensitivity Tables
• Readout Modes - Speeds, Read Types, Read Areas and Overheads
• System Gain, Noise, Linearity and Persistence
• Count Rates, Exposures and Sky Brightnesses

• Run-up and Run-down
• Preparing an Observing Programme - the UKIRT OT
• Available Template Observations (separate page)
• Loading and running a Sequence - the UKIRT QT
• On-line data reduction - the ORAC DR
  • Available DR Recipes (separate page)
• Data Format and Location at UKIRT

• UFTI and the FP
• UFTI Polarimetry

• UFTI Troubleshooting Including anomalous features on the array.
• Engineering Appendices Anomalous features on array, Warmup/cooldown timescales, aligning UFTI, bad pixel masks, Hartmann mask tests.

• Standard stars and other calibration information