The infrared camera (IRC) on board the ASTRO-F: laboratory tests and expected performance

The Infrared Camera (IRC) is one of the focal-plane instruments on board the Japanese infrared astronomical space mission ASTRO-F. It will make wide-field deep imaging and low-resolution spectroscopic observations over a wide spectral range in the near- to mid-infrared (2-26um) in the pointed observation mode of the ASTRO-F. The IRC will also be operated in the survey mode and make an all-sky survey at mid-infrared wavelengths. It comprises three channels. The NIR channel (2-5um) employs a 512x412 InSb array, whereas both the MIR-S (5-12um) and the MIR-L (12-26um) channels use 256x256 Si:As impurity band conduction (IBC) arrays. The three channels will be operated simultaneously. All the channels have 10'x10' fields of view with nearly diffraction-limited spatial resolutions. The NIR and MIR-S share the same field of view, while the MIR-L will observe the sky about 25' away from the NIR/MIR-S field of view. The IRC will give us deep insights into the formation and evolution of galaxies, the properties of brown dwarfs, the evolution of planetary disks, the process of star-formation, the properties of the interstellar medium under various physical environments, as well as the nature and evolution of solar system objects. This paper summarizes the latest laboratory measurements as well as the expected performance of the IRC.