iow_20120112 - Gaia

Image of the Week

Focal Plane Assembly with all the CCDs and WFSs

This photo shows the complete set of CCDs and the WaveFront Sensors (WFSs) that make up Gaia's focal plane. The CCDs are bolted to the CCD support structure (CSS). The CSS (the grey plate underneath the CCDs in this photo) weighs about 20 kg and is made of silicon carbide (SiC), a material that provides remarkable thermal and mechanical stability.

From left to right in this photo, distinct areas on the focal plane can be seen:

• 1 strip with two basic angle monitors (bottom left), and one wave front sensor,
• 2 strips for the sky mapper,
• 9 strips forming the Astrometric field and a second wave front sensor,
• 1 strip for the Blue Photometer,
• 1 strip for the Red Photometer,
• 3 strips for the Radial Velocity Spectrometer (RVS)

Image: courtesy of Astrium

[Published: 12/01/2012]