Telescope uses world's largest IR camera
A
RA Rodriguez product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Jun 11, 2007
Kaydon bearings were selected for the filter wheel mechanism in the world's largest infra-red camera, part of the Vista telescope.
Vista - the world's largest telescope dedicated to ground-based survey work - should be completed by early 2008.
Capable of supporting a huge variety of projects from solar system studies to cosmology it is equipped with the world's largest infra-red camera.
Design and construction has been managed by the UK Astronomy Technology Centre for a Consortium of 18 UK Universities led by Queen Mary, University of London.
As the acronym suggests it can be enhanced by an optical camera at a later stage; Vista stands for Visible and Infra-red Survey Telescope for Astronomy.
Proposed projects for this telescope range from measuring the galaxy's population of brown dwarf stars to constructing a 3D map that covers about 5% of the entire observable universe.
An important part of the telescope's operation is the exchange of different filters in the field of view to alter the waveband to suit the application.
Kaydon bearings were selected for this filter wheel mechanism for the infra-red camera, primarily to save space.
An ability to operate in a cryogenic atmosphere of -200C without lubrication was also a prerequisite.
The bearings and engineering analysis was supplied to the UK Astronomy Technology Centre by RA Rodriguez - UK factory representatives for the Kaydon corporation.
The chosen bearings are of a type that is now considered an industry standard for achieving high performance in a small space.
The bearings' weight-saving potential was beneficial to the filter wheel mechanism design.
As the application could not tolerate grease or oil lubrication these stainless steel angular contact bearings were supplied with lead ion dry film lube.
Sited at the Cerro Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile and operating at an altitude of 2635m, this 4m telescope will become part of the European Southern Observatory's suite of telescopes.
Its discoveries will be crucial in optimising European exploitation of southern hemisphere 8m telescope time.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Google Ads
Contact RA Rodriguez
Related Stories
- Ricardo to help develop automatic transmission
- Turbine producer adopts NSK cost-saving programme
- Split roller bearings used on colliery conveyors
- SKF systems boost uptime of Isis neutron choppers
- NSK bearings save costs for carbon-fibre producer
Browse by category
-
Capital Equipment (3,532)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (545)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,133)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (478)
- Production line blowers and fans (74)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (978)
- Consultancy and Services (927)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,141)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (818)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (190)
- Control and Instrumentation (3)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (297)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (204)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,209)
- Plantwide control (1,354)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (577)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (393)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,449)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (2)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,292)
- Industrial Motors (502)
- Linear Drives and Motors (121)
- Precision Motors and Gears (434)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,096)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,324)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (587)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (723)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (652)
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (377)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (722)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (430)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (829)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,385)
- 2D CAD software (203)
- 3D CAD software (1,199)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (583)
- Data, document management software (324)
- Electrical design software (167)
- Engineering Design Software (17)
- FEA and structural analysis software (377)
- File conversion software, data capture (358)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (339)
- Materials design and moulding design software (153)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (325)
- PLM and collaboration software (665)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (269)
- Publishing and documentation software (234)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (208)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (964)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,199)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (273)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Conferences (438)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (851)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (578)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (354)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (635)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Seminars (421)
- Engineering Training Courses (458)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (180)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (285)
- Health and Safety Legislation (403)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (115)
- Machine Building (4,630)
-
Materials and Processing (3,040)
- Materials and components (2,271)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials processing and testing (292)
- Rapid Prototyping (472)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,680)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (491)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (505)
- Data loggers (428)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (645)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (765)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (449)
- Materials testing equipment (439)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (159)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (522)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,276)
-
Powertrain Design (3,723)
- Bearings (986)
- Chains and belts (334)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,482)
- Hydraulic Components (475)
- Lubricants (441)
- Powertrain Design (4)
-
Sensors (7,313)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (450)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (649)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (293)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (158)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (539)
- Linear Position Sensors (417)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (732)
- Pressure sensors (642)
- Proximity Sensors (715)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (564)
- Sensors (12)
- Temperature sensors (623)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,416)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (2,057)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,730)
