ABSTRACT
A new infrared array camera system using a Hughes/SBRC 58 x 62 pixel hybrid Si:Ga array detector has been successfully applied to high background 5 - 18 micron astronomical imaging observations. The off-axis reflective optical system minimizes thermal background loading and produces diffraction-limited images with negligible spatial distortion. The noise equivalent flux density (NEFD) of the camera at 10 microns on the 3.0-meter NASA/Infrared Telescope Facility with broadband (Delta lambda/lambda=0.1) interference filters and 0.26 arcsec pixels is NEFD = 0.01 Jy min-1/2 pixel-1 (1 alpha), and it operates at a frame rate of 30 Hz with no compromise in observational efficiency. The electronic and optical design of the camera, its photometric characteristics, examples of observational results, and techniques for successful array imaging in a high-background astronomical application are discussed.