English (UK)
PANIC Panoramic Near-Infrared Camera
It is a wide field NIR camera for the 2.2m telescope. The instrument has been developed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) to deliver the instrument to CAHA. PANIC had its first light at the 2.2m telescope on 11/2014 and was accepted by CAHA in 2015, as all parties (CAHA, MPIA and IAA) agreed that the array of four Hawaii-2RG detectors should be replaced as soon as possible. Since then the instrument belongs to CAHA.
PANIC4K is the upgraded PANIC instrument with a monolithic HAWAII-4RG consisting of 4096x4096 pixel matrix with 15 micron pixel pitch and 2.5 µm cut-off. Full details on detector performance and characterization can be found in this document.
The instrument is optimized for the 2.2m telescope, but can also be used at the 3.5m telescope with very good performance too. Originally, and with the former detector (18 micron pitch), the camera had a field of view of 31.65 x 31.65 arcmin (0.446 arcsec/px) at the 2.2m, and of 15.6 x 15.6 arcmin (0.224 arcsec/px) at the 3.5m. With the new detector, and the smaller pixel pitch, the current field of view and pixel scale are shown in the following table. See below.
Available at: Cassegrain station of the Zeiss 2.2 m reflector
Contact: Astronomy group
In a nutshell
Instrument/telescope | PANIC/2.2m |
|---|---|
FOV | 26.3 x 26.3 arcmin |
Pixel scale | 0.37 arcsec/px |
Detector | 4096x4096 pixels, monolithic HAWAII-4RG |
Pixel Size | 15 micron |
Intrinsic image quality DEE80 | ≤1.84 px, 0.68 arcsec |
Image distortion | <1.3% |
Wavelength range | 0.8 µm to 2.5 µm |
Standard broad band filters | Z, Y, J, H, Ks |
Narrow band filters | H2, Br-gamma |
Observing with PANIC
CAHA strongly recommends reading the instrument's quick-start manual. It is mandatory to prepare the observation blocks (see Observation Tool) before the observations. If you have any questions or issues, please consult with the Astronomy group.
PANIC has a pipeline software package (PAPI) that can be run in two modes: a quick one which supplies the observer with reduced quick-look (PQL) data to judge and optimize the observations, and a science pipeline mode which reduces the data after ending of observations with all available calibrations and science data.
More Information
PANIC Acknowledgment Text in Publications: Please include the following statement when publishing scientific results based on data obtained with PANIC.
"Based on observations obtained with PANIC, a CAHA (Centro Astronómico Hispano en Andalucía at Calar Alto, operated jointly by Junta de Andalucía and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) instrument defined and built in close collaboration with CAHA by a joint project between IAA-CSIC (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC) and MPIA (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie) institutes."
And refer to the paper: M.-C. Cárdenas Vázquez, B. Dorner, A. Huber, E. Sánchez-Blanco, M. Alter, J. F. Rodríguez Gómez, P. Bizenberger, V. Naranjo, J.-M. Ibáñez Mengual, J. Panduro, A. J. García Segura, U. Mall, M. Fernández, W. Laun, I. M. Ferro Rodríguez, J. Helmling, V. Terrón, K. Meisenheimer, J. W. Fried, R. J. Mathar, H. Baumeister, R.-R. Rohloff, C. Storz, L. Verdes-Montenegro, H. Bouy, M. Ubierna, P. Fopp, B. Funke, "PANIC: A General-purpose Panoramic Near-infrared Camera for the Calar Alto Observatory", PASP 130, 984 (2018).
Panic Gallery
M51
Object: M51 - Date: 19-01-2025 - Instrument: PANIC - Telescope: 2.2m (CAHA) - Filters: J, H, Ks - 25' x 25'.
S. Muñoz-Torres and PANIC Team.
SNR IC443
Object: SNR IC443 - Date: 18-01-2025 - Instrument: PANIC - Telescope: 2.2m (CAHA) - Filters: J, Ks - 25' x 25'. H2.
S. Muñoz-Torres and PANIC Team.
M101
Object: M101 - Date: 20-02-2024 - Instrument: PANIC - Telescope: 2.2m (CAHA) - Filters: Z, J, H, Ks - 25' x 25'.
S. Muñoz-Torres and PANIC Team.
SA98
Object: SA98 - Date: 25-01-2024 - Instrument: PANIC - Telescope: 2.2m (CAHA) - Filters: J, Ks - 25' x 25'.
S. Muñoz-Torres and PANIC Team.
NGC891
Object: NGC891 - Date: 25-01-2024 - Instrument: PANIC - Telescope: 2.2m (CAHA) - Filters: J, H, Ks - 25' x 25'.
S. Muñoz-Torres and PANIC Team.
M42
Object: M42 - Date: 25-01-2024 - Instrument: PANIC - Telescope: 2.2m (CAHA) - Filters: Z, J, H, Ks - 25' x 25'.
S. Muñoz-Torres and PANIC Team.
M110
Object: M110 - Date: 28-11-2023 - Instrument: PANIC - Telescope: 2.2m (CAHA) - Filters: J, Ks - 25' x 25'.
S. Muñoz-Torres and PANIC Team.
M36
Object: M36 - Date: 30-11-2023 - Instrument: PANIC - Telescope: 2.2m (CAHA) - Filters: Z, J, H,Ks - 25' x 25'.
S. Muñoz-Torres and PANIC Team.
 CAHA15-CE-3902 |
 |
 |
