Andor’s iKon CCD series is in high demand especially within the exoplanet community, which perform exoplanet searches and follow-up characterization studies. This is due to, for example, the cameras ideal suitability to operate in remote observing locations (e.g., no vacuum repumping necessary, in-field replaceable shutter) and the availability of a sensor option with extended NIR sensitivity. The latter is important especially for observations of cool stars. The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS), a dedicated search for exoplanets, is a great example for an on-going observational astronomy project involving Andor iKon-L CCD cameras. NGTS is comprised of 12 fully robotic 20cm telescopes, each equipped with custom-designed iKon-L CCDs providing exoplanet observations in the 600-900 nm wavelength band. At Andor, we are proud that the capabilities and characteristics of the iKon CCD series can contribute to the discovery of planets with sizes smaller than Neptune, which is a crucial step towards finding a possible Earth-twin in the future.
Learning Objectives
- Learn about the NGTS instrument set-up
- NGTS data products and how to access NGTS data
- Scientific background on exoplanets and transiting exoplanets in particular
- Scientific results of the NGTS survey
