Sibonise, meaning “show us” in isiXhosa, is currently being commissioned on Lesedi. It is an imaging camera with the largest detector of any SAAO instrument, an E2V 6kx6k pixel CCD, yielding a field of view of two thirds of a degree in diameter. A summary of the key features can be found in the table below, with more details to follow.
Detector | E2V CCD231-C6 back-illuminated, NIMO |
No. of pixels | 6144×6160 |
Field of view | 39 arcmin diameter |
Platescale | 0.38 acrsec/pixel |
Coating | Astro multi-2 |
Filters | U, B, V, R, I, Hα (3.2nm), Hα (4nm), He II 468.6 (4nm), [O III] (2.8nm), clear |
Imaging modes | Full frame, frame transfer |
Readout options | Fast, slow |
Gain options | Bright, faint |
Exposure time | ≥ 0.5 s |