IRAIT: a Facility for IR Astronomy at Dome C

We present the status of IRAIT (Italian Robotic Antarctic Infrared Telescope) and the plans for its forthcoming installation at the Antarctic base of Dome C. After a short description of the telescope itself and of the auxiliary equipment for its transportation and quick setup in Antarctica we revie...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: TOSTI, Gino, BUSSO, Maurizio Maria
Other Authors: Tosti, Gino, Busso, Maurizio Maria
Format: Conference Object
Language:unknown
Published: 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11391/993210
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003IAUSS.2E.3T
Description
Summary:We present the status of IRAIT (Italian Robotic Antarctic Infrared Telescope) and the plans for its forthcoming installation at the Antarctic base of Dome C. After a short description of the telescope itself and of the auxiliary equipment for its transportation and quick setup in Antarctica we review the foreseen focal plane instrumentation including a near infrared image-spectrometer and a mid infrared camera. Recent developments of the collaboration in Europe aimed at upgrading the project to a really international effort are described and the role of French and Spanish teams in the new scheme are outlined. Finally some key projects that should especially benefit from a permanent in infrared facility in Antarctica are illustrated in the fields of stellar and extragalactic physics.