EXCALIBUR - Extinction camera.


EXCALIBUR (EXtinction CAmera and LIght BackgroUnd Register) is a dedicated extinction monitor that performs measurements in 10 differents spectral bands from 340nm to 1020nm, providing the extinction curve in all the visible spectrum.

The system comprises of a 11 inch telescope installed over a robotic mount with a pointing accuracy better than 1 arcminute. A CCD is attached to the cassegrain focus of the telescope realizes the measurements in a 23x15 arcminutes of field of view. The camera has a filter wheel with 10 position and accept any 1 1/4" standard filters.

The system is able to solve the astrometric plate assuring a perfect telescope pointing and resolving the photometry for all the star in the field of view. 

An autoguider is activated automatically in case of long exposures, so the instrument is suitable not only to determine the extinction curve but also for quick detection of GRB phenomenon, TNO searches, etc.

A custom electronic and sfotware developed by iTec Astronomica S.L. for EXCALIBUR, controls all the devices of the instrument, such the focuser, power supplies, dome control, weather station, cloud sensor, heater, webcams, etc. The program is writen in C++ and uses the ASCOM protocol, so it is hardware independing.

The instrument can be programmed to observe a list of target and will execute all the commands to perform the observations requested with no human supervision. Moreover, it can be controlled in remote mode.